Bangalore: As ticket sales for Indian Premier League (IPL) semi-finals opened Monday in their new venue, Navi Mumbai, scores of disappointed fans thronged M. Chinnaswamy stadium here to seek refund on the tickets they had bought.
Further disappointment was in store for refund seekers as they were told to return today as the IPL organisers had decided that money would be refunded from April 20 as they needed time to make arrangements for it.
From popular Kannada film stars Puneet Rajkumar and Ramya, brand ambassadors of Royal Challengers Bangalore, to cricket fans, the main topic of discussion was their disappointment over the semi-finals being moved to Navi Mumbai from Bangalore.
The semi-finals, scheduled for April 21 and 22, were moved to Navi Mumbai following two explosions near the Chinnaswamy stadium on Saturday and recovery of two more bombs on Sunday.
"I am deeply disappointed like thousands of cricket fans in the state. Bangalore's Chinnaswamy stadium has been a happy hunting ground for the local team (Royal Challengers Bangalore), who have won many matches here," Rajkumar told IANS.
"I don't go into the other issues with regard to the change of the venue and only share the deep disappointment of the local fans," he said.
Expressing her disappointment in her Facebook jottings, Ramya wrote: "semi-finals in Navi Mumbai, Sad Sad".
Ramya told IANS that she really wanted to cheer the local team which was performing very well after some initial failures.
"I have great faith in the Bangalore Royal Challengers team. I have supported the team even when it was not doing well," she said.
