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Bangalore - Police have battered hundreds of fans with sticks outside Bangalore's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, as anger at the lack of tickets on sale for the World Cup clash between India and England boiled over.
Thousands had camped outside the stadium since Wednesday hoping to get their hands on one of the 7,000 tickets on sale for Sunday's game. Violence erupted after the allocation sold out in three hours.
"The biggest challenge we face today is to meet the expectations of the people, that is not possible, that is never possible," former player Javagal Srinath, who is now the secretary of the Karnataka Cricket Association responsible for the Bangalore match, told a news conference.
"There is a limit where we can keep people happy. There is not much we can do. Around 7,000 tickets were all sold out in three hours," a grinning Srinath added as he exchanged jokes with the assembled media.
After the box office sold its quota of tickets by 11:30 local time (06:00 GMT), those who missed out vented their frustration by hitting out at police, causing damage to the area.
The venue was given hosting rights for the highly-anticipated Group B match after the International Cricket Council (ICC) was with unhappy with the preparations at the 100,000-seater Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Ticket sales for the Feb. 19-April 2 tournament have proven to be a major headache for organisers, who are unable to meet demand for the high-profile matches, especially those featuring India, as well as the April 2 final in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
Thursday's ugly scenes would have raised further questions about the way tickets are being distributed in the cricket-crazy nation.
Only a small quota for the major matches is being sold directly to the public, while the rest are distributed among the ICC and clubs affiliated to the local cricket associations.
Thursday's clashes occurred just a few hours after NDTV news channel reported that the ICC has sent a memo to its president, Sharad Pawar, warning that tickets for the final should not be sold at the box office because the high demand created the "potential for chaos and physical injury when the box office sales open".
Pawar is the chairman of the tournament's Central Organising Committee, and is also president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, which is in charge of the Wankhede Stadium.
On Monday, the official online ticket agency that had been expected to sell 1,000 tickets for the final crashed as 10 million fans tried to log on in just 20 minutes.
Of the 33,000 seats at the Wankhede, around 4,000 are available to the public - 1,000 via an online ballot while some 3,000 have been earmarked for box office sales.
