If the initial enquirers and bookings are any indication, as many as 600 England cricket fans are expected to turn up for the second One-Day International match between India and England at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here on Tuesday.
Immediately after the ticket prices were fixed, 250 English fans enquired about bookings.
The Barmy Army- a semi-organised group of English cricket fans -is also expected to join the crowd, Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) officials said.
Meanwhile, tour operators said since it is tourist season now in Kerala, many European tourists, particularly from England, have chosen to visit Kochi this time because of the one-day match. Karthik Varma, KCA member, said initial enquiries from the English fans were encouraging.
“We expect that about 600 England fans will come for the match on Tuesday. The initial response was really good. All the enquiries were for `3000 and `2000 tickets,” he said. Varma added that since the booking was through online, exact tracking of foreign bookings were not possible.
“In Kerala, the European tourist season continues till march. The performance of the England team was good in the first match of the series held at Rajkot. Owing to these reasons, we expect that a good number of English fans will come for the match,” he pointed out.
England leads the five-match series 1-0 after winning the opening ODI by 9 runs in Rajkot.
Vipin Antony, a tour operator in Kochi, said some of his clients from England are visiting Kochi just to see the match, after supporting the team in Rajkot.
“Many of the tourists from Europe have chosen this week to visit Kochi because of the one-day match. Some of my clients have opted for a four day tour package which includes the one-day match,” he said.
KCA officials are of the view that most of the English fans will opt for `2000 tickets. As many as 54,000 tickets were printed for the match.