Since Thursday night, there has been a huge influx of cricket enthusiasts outside Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. The area has become a sea of nervous onlookers trying to get tickets for the India–South Africa T20 match, which is set for December 9.
Hours before daylight, hundreds of people—many of them young fans—came to the event, creating enormous lines that stretched around the stadium's perimeter. Throughout the night, the gathering continued to grow despite the bitter cold, with many vying for space and nervously awaiting the opening of barricades. Many claimed to have traveled from distant places to make sure they didn't miss anything.
For the first time, the Commissionerate Police introduced a new crowd-control system to expedite the ticket sale procedure.

Spectators must first approach the enclosure at the OCA Cricket Academy before going straight to the ticket kiosks due to the serpentine arrangement of steel barricades.
A three-foot barricade line has been set aside for police deployment, and two distinct barricaded lines with a two-foot gap between them have been established for the general population. Nearly 800 meters from the counter location, steel barricades have been erected.
Fans were not allowed to form lines outside the counters last night, according to the officials. Today's ticket sales started at nine in the morning, and only ticket buyers were permitted close to the counters, which have been designated as "no man's land."

"I ask them to avoid crowding because there are more people here than there are tickets available. On August 8, fan parks and nets will be set up so you can watch. There are a lot of people. CCTVs have been placed, and the counter will shortly open, according to Cuttack DCP Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo.