'DY Patil Stadium wicket would be a good one'

Mumbai: The track prepared for the seventh and final one-dayer between India and Australia on Wednesday at Navi Mumbai`s D Y Patil Stadium would be a good one, assured former India pacer Abey Kuruvilla, who is also the sports-in-charge of the D Y Patil academy.

"It will be a good wicket. I can`t compare it with what was prepared at places like Hyderabad (where nearly 700 runs were scored), but it would be good," the gangling Kuruvilla , told reporters today.

The former Mumbai bowler said while preparations for the match have been going on for several days, the wicket has been under work for over eight days.

Asked about practice wickets, Kuruvilla said the teams, who will be staying in Navi Mumbai, have the option to do so either inside the stadium or outside where a proper ground with practice facilities exist inside the educational complex.

"I hear the two teams are going to use the facilities just outside, but they have the option to practice inside the stadium too," he said.

Kuruvilla also said the response for the match has been huge and between 22 and 25,000 tickets were sold on-line.

"People have been interested to watch this match soon after the start of the one-day series. Between 22 and 25,000 tickets have been sold on-line," he said.

An official of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), the hosts of the match, said yesterday that all tickets for the match have been sold.

The match would be played under lights at the venue with a seating capacity of 52,000-plus including corporate boxes, which grabbed the attention of the cricket fans during the first edition of the Indian Premier League last year.

The roof was yet to be completed then, but since then it has been done.

Bureau Report