How to score Mumbai Indians IPL tickets ahead of the curve

The fourth season of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament kicks off on April 8, and the Mumbai Indians' first home game is at Wankhede Stadium on April 15 against team Kochi.

Here's a great tip: Mumbai Indians (MI) fans with MasterCard credit cards have a pre-purchase window for all the MI home games at Bookmyshow.com till about April 1. Buy tickets, here.

No fooling -- that's almost a week before tickets go on sale to the general public, and neither will on-ground sales commence until this deal closes.

Cardholders will be able to purchase tickets, online only, to the Mumbai Indians’ seven home games during this time.

A Mumbai Indians spokesperson says it's a "pioneering initiative" and that they "eagerly look forward to enhancing fans’ experience for the season.”

I'll bet. Mumbai Indians recently crossed a million fans on Facebook. 1,038,882 to be exact. That's a business opportunity for sure.

The million mark makes this the most followed page among the 10 IPL franchises on Facebook, and the seventh most followed Indian brand on the social networking site.

The page is also more popular than any official association's page, or individual cricketer's fanpage or cricket sports brand on Facebook.

Basically, this city's team rules.

The Mumbai Indians (MI) Facebook page, MI Paltan commenced on February 22 2010, a little before the start of IPL season 3.

While Mumbai Indians' IPL 4 tickets are being sold through Bookmyshow.com, other IPL teams have tied up on KyaZoonga.com for ticket sales, which will commence late this week.