IND v ENG 2021: Crowds break social distancing norms while collecting tickets for second Test in Chennai

TNCA allowed 50% capacity crowd for second Test between India and England.

Cricket fans crowded the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai for collecting tickets for the upcoming second Test match, on Thursday, February 11, and were seen breaking all social distancing norms before the local authorities brought everything under control.

Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) allowed a 50% capacity crowd for the second Test match between India and England from Saturday, February 13. The tickets for the same were sold online but people were asked to collect hard copies of the tickets from the stadium itself.

IND v ENG 2021: Chepauk to allow crowd in its 3 'disputed' stands for 2nd Test which have been closed since 2012

There seemed to be confusion about the instructions on the date of ticket collection. While the tickets were available at the stadium 'from February 11', many people mistakenly thought it to be 'on February 11'. As a result, there was a ruckus created for the tickets outside the stadium.

Insane crowd at Chepauk for the retrieval of physical tickets. Friends standing in queue for the last couple of hours & the crowd hasn't moved an inch. Edho Thala-Thalapathy padam FDFS level crowd. #KnowledgeableChennaiCrowd at work. #Chepauk #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/1e6p7ehOf6

— Srini Mama (@SriniMaama16) February 11, 2021

Worst administration!
Ticket redemption logic utter fail#INDvsENG #chepauk @TNCACricket @BCCI @Paytm @paytminsider pic.twitter.com/5tgFIFgxtg

— Sanjay S. Prakash (@Sanjay_SPrakash) February 11, 2021

A TNCA official told PTI, "The TNCA had announced that tickets booked online for the second Test could be redeemed from February 11. However, they seem to have misunderstood it and came to the stadium resulting in crowds and confusion."

The chaos created outside the stadium needed local authorities to rush to the spot and bring everything under control.

According to reports, a person fainted outside the ground as many of them stood in queues for about 6 hours.

Had a worst day in my life time, standing more than 6 hours in the que to redemption of my tickets for #INDvsENG test at #chepauk , returned with empty hands along with leg pain and frustration, what fuc....ing arrangements done by @paytminsider @BCCI @TNCACricket ????????

— f meeran (@Fmeeran15) February 11, 2021

The collection of tickets in the stadium can be done on Friday and Saturday also. The Test match begins on Saturday, February 13.

(With inputs from PTI)