<p>The absence of VVS Laxman, who announced his retirement ahead of the Test series against New Zealand, seems to have costed the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) dearly with a poor turnout expected for the Five-day match, beginning here tomorrow.<br /><br />According to the HCA sources, only 2,500 tickets have been sold for the match in a 39,000 capacity Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.<br /><br />"We would be happy to see a crowd of 7,000 to 10,000. Ticket sales have been poor and the retirement of Laxman has compounded the woes," HCA executive committee member, Gerard Carr told PTI.</p>.<p><br />"The Test match viewership is going down. But we expected the crowd to fill up to see a last glimpse of Laxman in India colours. But it won't happen," he added.<br /><br />Giving details of the collections from ticket sales, Carr said: "Tickets worth around Rs 10 lakh have been sold for the entire five-day duration. This, however, does not include the online booking. We hope the crowd to fill up during the weekend."<br /><br />Hyderabad last hosted a Test in November 2010 against the same opposition -- New Zealand -- when both the teams dished out a drab draw.<br /><br />Brendon McCullum had slammed a double century in New Zealand's second innings, while Harbhajan Singh also scored an unbeaten century, even as the flat wicket had come for a severe criticism.</p>
<p>The absence of VVS Laxman, who announced his retirement ahead of the Test series against New Zealand, seems to have costed the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) dearly with a poor turnout expected for the Five-day match, beginning here tomorrow.<br /><br />According to the HCA sources, only 2,500 tickets have been sold for the match in a 39,000 capacity Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.<br /><br />"We would be happy to see a crowd of 7,000 to 10,000. Ticket sales have been poor and the retirement of Laxman has compounded the woes," HCA executive committee member, Gerard Carr told PTI.</p>.<p><br />"The Test match viewership is going down. But we expected the crowd to fill up to see a last glimpse of Laxman in India colours. But it won't happen," he added.<br /><br />Giving details of the collections from ticket sales, Carr said: "Tickets worth around Rs 10 lakh have been sold for the entire five-day duration. This, however, does not include the online booking. We hope the crowd to fill up during the weekend."<br /><br />Hyderabad last hosted a Test in November 2010 against the same opposition -- New Zealand -- when both the teams dished out a drab draw.<br /><br />Brendon McCullum had slammed a double century in New Zealand's second innings, while Harbhajan Singh also scored an unbeaten century, even as the flat wicket had come for a severe criticism.</p>
