Eden Gardens under renovation a few weeks before the India-Sri Lanka ODI © AFP Enlarge
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No tickets were sold for the fourth ODI between India and Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens after the Cricket Association of Bengal decided to offer available seats to its members and affiliated clubs. The stadium is being renovated for the World Cup in 2011 and with four stands out of service, only half the seats were available for the match.

"We are obliged to reserve seats for our members and clubs," CAB official Biswarup Dey said. "Even all of them were not accommodated because there was just not enough space. So we decided not to sell tickets for the game."

The one-dayer was Kolkata's first since February 2007, when former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya, a rival of the current Sharad Pawar-Shashank Manohar faction, returned to power in the state. But Kolkata will host four World Cup matches.

Virender Sehwag, India's stand-in captain, said it was unusual not to play in front of a packed Eden Gardens. "But there will be a better, bigger stadium for the World Cup," Sehwag said. "Still, 40,000 is more than what we get at many grounds around the world."