Only less than 10,000 tickets sold at Karyavattom which can accommodate 40,000 people, tickets still available 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The excitement from the gallery will not be as much as before when the third of the final one-day international between India and Sri Lanka is played at the Greenfield Stadium at Karyavattom in Thiruvananthapuram today. The reason is only less than 10,000 tickets have been sold which can accommodate 40,000 people. The organizers are worried that three fourth seats in the gallery will be empty.

A controversy had stoked over corporation’s increase in the entertainment tax and response of the sports minister that starving people need not watch the match. Along with this, as India have won the series by winning the first two matches, the relevance of the third match has been lost. Also, the campaign that there is a possibility of giving chance to those from India’s reserve team had also affected the ticket sales. Tickets for the match can still be purchased online from Paytm Insider.

The match starts at 1.30 pm. People will be allowed to enter the ground from 11.30 am onwards. This is a match to give opportunity to the players on the reserve bench after winning the first two matches and winning the series. India's reserve bench includes Surya Kumar Yadav, who was out for the first two ODIs despite his good performance in the Twenty20 series. Meantime, this is a chance for Sri Lanka to bounce back with the comfort of at least one win in the series.

The Sri Lankan team had trained at the Greenfield Stadium yesterday. Sri Lankan coach Chris Silverwood, who came for the press conference yesterday, said that although they have good players, the problem is that they cannot be consistent. He added that spinners, who are Lanka's spearhead in T20Is, have not been able to shine in the ODI.