The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to host the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 starting on October 5 in Ahmedabad. The BCCI and ICC revealed the initial schedule of the tournament last month and rescheduled nine games on August 9.
Both BCCI and ICC have come under a lot of criticism for revealing the schedule late and then making changes to it. Ten venues are hosting the tournament throughout India and fans are facing a lot of issues over delayed tickets sale.
Tickets will be available from August 25 (40 days before the start of the tournament) for non-India warm-up matches and all non-India event matches. Tickets sale for India matches will begin on August 30 but tickets for crucial India-Pakistan game will be available from September 3 only.
Many fans booked their flight tickets and confirmed hotel bookings after learning dates for their desired fixtures but now they are not sure whether they will get match tickets for the event or not. Atirav Kapur, a cricket fan from Delhi, revealed that he spent INR 40,000 for flight tickets to Ahmedabad for the India-Pakistan game but the fixture was advanced a day before, costing him more money.
"I have already paid Rs 40000 for the Delhi-Ahmedabad return flight and even if I manage to get the ticket, I will need to reach a day in advance to get a physical copy of it. Considering the prices have already skyrocketed, rescheduling the flight will cost me a lot of money," Kapur told PTI on Sunday.
Kapur also highlighted that the tickets for the 2011 World Cup in India were issued months before the tournament which gave the fans enough time to prepare their travelling and hotel bookings.
Meanwhile, fans from outside India are facing the same problem as they wait for ticket availability to confirm their travelling plans. One fan from Singapore told PTI that he had booked flight tickets but was not sure about getting match tickets. He also slammed the BCCI for poor management while finalising the schedule.
"The people who are organising don't seem to have an idea. The whole thing is targeted towards people who have contacts (and get tickets easily).
It is a total mess," a fan added.
