Some tickets go for up to US$ 10,000. Security measures are increased around the stadium. In Sri Lanka, religious leaders pray for their team’s victory.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) – A ticket to the Cricket World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka can cost up to US$ 10,000 each. Tomorrow, in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, every seat will be filled. Despite the fact that every ticket has been sold, some are still trying to buy (and sell) tickets online.

One fan, Aditya Ayer, an India fan, told Bloomberg that he sold ten seats through a website for 65,000 rupees (,460) each. Other fans have even been willing to cough up 100,000 rupees (US$ 2,245) a ticket. The cheapest ticket sold at 1,000 rupees (US$ 24), this in a country where the average monthly salary stands at around 3,000 rupees (US$ 67).

In the meantime, in Sri Lanka, various groups held prayer services, hoping that their team might repeat its victory over Australia in 1996, when the country was still embroiled in a civil war.

This morning, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Hindu leaders from Sri Lanka’s Inter-Religious Alliance for National Unity (IRANU) gave a collective blessing at the Viddyalankara Pirivena Buddhist temple for their nation’s victory.

The Venerables Kamburugamuwe Vajira Thero, head of the temple and IRANU president, Galagama Dhammaransi Thero and Kalupahana Piarathana Thero chanted the pirith (a Buddhist prayer). Priests and spiritual leaders from other religions recited prayers in Tamil and Sinhalese.

Fr Sarath Hettiarachchi and Fr S. Jeyaraj called on the Lord to grant all the team’s players the necessary mental and physical fitness, strength and guidance to play fairly and bring the title home again.

In Mumbai, security has been stepped up for the final. A fortified ring of armed police surrounds the stadium, which is about a mile from where Pakistani militants killed 166 people in a 2008 attack.

Troops behind sandbags have blocked the entrance to the road leading to the two teams’ hotel—one of the sites targeted in the attacks—and the country’s Rapid Action Force has patrolled outside the ground in armoured vehicles. The air space over the stadium has been declared a no-fly zone.

Cricket is India’s national sport. The national team has not however been very successful in past editions of the Cricket World Cup. Its lone victory dates back to 1983 against the West Indies. In 2003, it reached the final but lost to Australia.

The winning team, in addition to the title of world champion, will take home a US$ 3 million prize. The runner-up will pocket US$ 1.5 million.

India gave the International Cricket Council (ICC) a tax holiday this year. The waiver, expected to be worth about US$ 10 million, applies to activities related to the tournament arising solely in India.

Lucrative earnings from global television and sponsorship rights are not included.

(Melani Manel Perera contributed to the reporting)

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