Thaindian News

Lucknow, March 30 (IANS) The administration’s decision to not allow theatres to screen the India-Pakistan World Cup cricket semifinal Wednesday due to security reasons has disappointed many enthusiasts in this Uttar Pradesh capital.

The decision came late Tuesday evening. However, by then a large number of cricket fans had reserved their seats in movie theatres by buying tickets ranging from Rs.150-500 to watch the match on the big screen.

According to Lucknow District Magistrate Anil Sagar, the administration did not allow putting up screens or screening of the matches in movie halls owing to security reasons.

“It’s really disappointing. I along with two of my friends had purchased tickets to watch the match on the big screen,” Akshat Chandra, an engineering student of Ram Swaroop College, told reporters here.

Said Lucknow University student Abhai Pratap Singh: “Now we will not be able to enjoy the match in the way we wanted.”

“The experience of watching a cricket match and that too of India and Pakistan on the big screen is far more entertaining than viewing it on normal TV sets,” he added.

PVR Phoenix and the Umrao theatre had made arrangements for screening the match on the big screen.

“Tickets for almost all the seats were sold by Tuesday afternoon. Following the district administration’s decision, we will refund the money of the tickets sold to watch the match,” a PVR Phoenix official said.

Umrao theatre has put a banner announcing that the match will not be shown.

Theatre manager Naresh Chandra Srivastava told reporters: “We had shown IPL matches in the past and thought we would get the permission for screening the India-Pakistan match.”

“Those who had purchased the tickets can get their money refunded now,” he added.