Lucknow: What should have become a joyful night of international cricket in Lucknow instead became an emotional and frustrating experience to thousands of fans with the fourth T20I between India and South Africa cancelled without a single ball being bowled out after the heavy mist fell. The game which was set to be held at Ekana Cricket Stadium did not start at all because the visibility was very poor during the evening.
The situation did not improve in spite of the various inspections conducted by the match officials. The umpires finally called off the match at 9:25 pm IST more than two hours later and this angered and disappointed spectators who had patiently waited in cold hoping the fog would disperse.
The defeat to more than a missed game was experienced by many fans. Others had gone through great personal sacrifices to come there. One of the sponsors claimed that he sold farm produce to afford the ticket and travel. I brought three sacks of wheat to see this game. Give me my money back now, I want my money back, I said, and felt frustrated.
Some of the spectators were puzzled by the move to have a night match in North India in the month of December a month infamous in terms of heavy fog and low visibility. The game ought to have been played at a different time of the day. It does not matter to us whether we will get the refund or not, we came to see Team India play, said another fan.
The disappointment was more pronounced to those fans who travelled farthest distances. One of Agra fans had stated that he left the house early in the morning and travelled almost 350 kilometres to watch the match. “I am heartbroken. This is very disappointing, we are all great fans of the Indian cricket team, he said.
Even though the current policy of the BCCI permits refunds of the ticket in situations where a match had to be canceled, most fans were of the view that monetary reimbursement will never compensate the lost experience.
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