Pakistan and UAE will host the Champions Trophy matches from February 19 and India will play all its matches at Dubai. Prior to that a three-match ODI series will begin from February 6 in Nagpur. As far as CT is concerned, the ODI series against England is important from a preparation point of view.
Prominent Indian players including captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohlli, wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant, young Shubman Gill, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal who arrived in the city on Sunday evening hits the net on Monday afternoon.
After their arrival at VCAJamtha Stadium around 1.30 pm, all the players first went to dressing room and spend some time there. Virat Kohli was the first who entered the nets for batting practice. He was followed by Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill. Pant was the last who attended the net session. All the players practised hard in the nets till 4.30 pm. Vidarbha junior bowlers including Pravin Rokde, Minar Sahare, Dipesh Parwani, Piyush Sawarkar, Saurabh Dubey, Mandar Ghodmare, Rohit Dattray, Devesh Charote, Dushyant Gekan, Adnan Kamal, Avinash Jadhav, Arjun Ingle and Shamnesh Deshmukh were the net bowlers along with divyang international cricketer Gurudas Raut. Pravin Rokde, Minar Sahare, Dipesh Parwani, Piyush Sawarkar, Saurabh Dubey, Mandar Ghodmare, Rohit Dattaray, Devesh Charote, Dushyant Tekan, Adnan Kamal, Avinash Jadhav, Arjun Ingle and Shamnesh Deshmukh were the net bowlers along with divyang international cricketer Gurudas Raut.
Meanwhile remaining Indian players including Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and others along with England team reached the city on Monday afternoon. The Indian team will have practice session on Tuesday from 1 pm onwards and on the other hand, England has decided not to have training session.
Extra parking space for spectators
The VCA administration and traffic department of the police are leaving no stone unturned for the convenience of spectators on the match day. Earlier on several occasions the city witnessed traffic jams on Wardha road. Ths time the traffic department has chalked out some measures to avoid the traffic woes. DCP traffic Archit Chandak who visited the stadium on Monday said, " Thsi time we are providing extra space for parking. It will help to avoid the traffic jam on the match day." The DCP also asked the concerned officials to remove the encroachment on the approaching road to VCA Jamthha stadium.
Black marketing of tickets
To prevent black marketing of tickets for the cricket match between India and England, the VCA administration sold tickets online. Considering the fans' passion for cricket, tickets were booked online within minutes of opening the site. Black marketers took advantage of this. Fans who booked online from the VCA's Civil Lines office were supposed to get tickets for the match. Therefore, taking advantage of the rush at the VCA, some people black-marketed the tickets.
Tickets worth Rs 1000 were being sold for Rs 4000. Some had booked tickets in advance just for the black-marketing.
School students disappointed
VCA tickets were to be given to students at a discounted rate to watch the cricket match. Some schools were contacted and asked for a list of students. Therefore, school employees were also in queue in front of the VCA in the morning. However, they were turned away, saying that the tickets were sold out.