Mumbai, India – Attending a World Cup is on the wish list of every cricket fan. The opportunity comes once every four years, the wait is long and arduous, it might be expensive – but in the end, it’s worth it.
Many fans in India had hoped to attend the Cricket World Cup on home soil, but the organisers’ delay in announcing the final schedule and a chaotic ticketing process have forced many to give up on their dream.
The International Cricket Council, cricket’s global governing body and organisers of the World Cup, released the fixtures on June 27; just 100 days before the start of the tournament on October 5, when defending champions England take on New Zealand in the opener in Ahmedabad.
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Fans frustrated over ‘very shoddy’ Cricket World Cup ticketing process
Amid the hype for the World Cup in India starting on October 5, fans complain of exorbitant prices and a chaotic ticket system.
President of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Snehasish Ganguly, left, and Arup Biswas, Minister of sports in Indian state of West Bengal pose with the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy
India will host the Cricket World Cup from October 5 to November 19 [Bikas Das/AP Photo]
By Manasi Pathak
Published On 2 Oct 2023
2 Oct 2023
Mumbai, India – Attending a World Cup is on the wish list of every cricket fan. The opportunity comes once every four years, the wait is long and arduous, it might be expensive – but in the end, it’s worth it.
Many fans in India had hoped to attend the Cricket World Cup on home soil, but the organisers’ delay in announcing the final schedule and a chaotic ticketing process have forced many to give up on their dream.
The International Cricket Council, cricket’s global governing body and organisers of the World Cup, released the fixtures on June 27; just 100 days before the start of the tournament on October 5, when defending champions England take on New Zealand in the opener in Ahmedabad.
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The delayed announcement was met with backlash from fans as schedules for the last two ODI World Cups in Australia and New Zealand (2015) and England and Wales (2019) were put out more than 12 months in advance.
Then on August 9, less than two months out from the start of the tournament, the 2023 World Cup organisers made things even more complicated for fans by releasing a revised schedule.
The dates or start times were changed for nine matches, including the highly-anticipated India vs Pakistan fixture in Ahmedabad, which was moved to October 14 from its original date of October 15. The changes to the schedule were reportedly over security concerns and requests from participating countries.
Match tickets for the general public went on sale in a staggered manner only from August 25, a mere 41 days before the opening match. And the process to book tickets was far from hassle-free – fans had to first register to be able to book tickets and then wait for hours before they could have a chance to buy them.
And for many, the chance never came.
The 28-year-old made a fresh travel booking for the new date, but even that was in vain as he failed to get his hands on the match tickets.
“There has been a lot of mismanagement. Several people had already booked their travel and couldn’t get hold of the match tickets,” Batra told Al Jazeera.
Batra said his initial round-trip flight tickets cost him 30,000 Indian rupees ($360), but prices went up after the match was rescheduled, with one-way tickets costing 23,000 Indian rupees ($277).
“Eventually I cancelled my refundable flight tickets and instead booked train tickets. But I couldn’t get match tickets so my plan didn’t work out,” Batra said.
Late changes to the fixture list also led to inflated accommodation costs, with prices for some hotel rooms in Ahmedabad soaring by more than 12 times the usual cost, with rooms as expensive as 53,000 rupees ($637) a night in three-star hotels.
Meanwhile, those lucky enough to get their hands on match tickets can also face huge prices. The cost of World Cup tickets starts from 499 rupees ($6) and goes up to 40,000 rupees ($481) on the official ticketing platform. The prices in the resale market are exorbitant, with the most expensive ticket for India vs Pakistan selling for 25 million rupees ($300,545) on Viagogo, a multinational ticket exchange and ticket resale brand.
The situation is also likely to affect fans travelling to India from abroad. Some fans from the Barmy Army, an England cricket supporters club, are expected to skip the World Cup due to the difficulty in planning the trip. Meanwhile, fans from other countries face visa difficulties – most significantly for neighbouring cricket-mad Pakistan.
Batra, who has travelled across India to watch cricket, said travelling to Sri Lanka last month to watch India play Pakistan in the Asia Cup would have been cheaper.
India faced Pakistan twice in the Asia Cup, beating them by 228 runs in the Super Four clash after their group-stage game was called off due to rain
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