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New Delhi: Chaos broke out outside Barabati Stadium in Odisha on Friday morning as thousands of cricket fans gathered at the ticket counters ahead of the first T20I between India and South Africa on December 9.
The authorities banned overnight queues, and the lines were allowed to form after 6 am, but fans started to gather around midnight, creating chaos by morning. By the time the counters opened at 9:00 a.m., the crowd had swelled to thousands.
Viral videos on social media show stampede-like scenes at the Barabati Stadium, with fans pushing through barricades in a desperate rush to buy tickets for the first T20I. Police were forced to resort to a mild lathi-charge to control the crowd.
This massive turnout to buy reflects just how rare major matches in Cuttack have become. The venue last hosted an international match in February 2025, when India defeated England by four wickets in an ODI game. The last time India faced South Africa in Cuttack was in 2022, which was also a T20I match. The Proteas won that game by four wickets while defending 149.
The upcoming match in Cuttack marks the start of the final leg of India’s home series against South Africa. After the Barabati opener on December 9, both teams move to New Chandigarh (December 11), Dharamsala (December 14), Lucknow (December 17) and finish in Ahmedabad (December 19).
India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc) (Subject to fitness clearance), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar.
South Africa squad: Aiden Markram, Ottneil Baartman, Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Tristan Stubbs.
