A group of unidentified people vandalized and set fire to the ticket counter at the Mirpur Swimming Complex near Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, frustrated by the lack of tickets for Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) matches .
The incident occurred around 12:30pm on Thursday.
From early morning, spectators gathered in front of the booth at the Swimming Complex to buy tickets for Thursday’s two matches.
When they were informed that there were no more tickets available at the counter, they became furious.
Some attempted to break the outer gate of the Swimming Complex using bamboo poles taken from the counter.
At one point, a few spectators set fire to the counter. They also vandalized the glass of the Swimming Complex.
After a while, the police arrived and dispersed the angry crowd by charging batons to restore order.
When asked why there is frequent disorder over BPL tickets, an official from the BCB's ticket committee, who wished to remain anonymous, explained that once the Tk200 general gallery tickets were sold out, spectators were directed to buy Tk500 tickets for the Club House Gallery.
This caused some frustration among the spectators.
When those tickets also sold out, only the Tk2,000 Grand Stand Gallery tickets remained, which many spectators were unwilling to buy due to the high price.
This year, most of the BPL tickets are being sold online by the BCB. Tickets are also available at seven branches of Madhumati Bank.
The decision to sell tickets from counters was made later. On Tuesday, due to bank holiday, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) arranged for ticket sales through booths.
