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Cricket World Cup: Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad urges BCCI to sell more tickets to fans

The 54-year-old urged the India board to be more transparent and not take fans for granted

Published: Tue 5 Sep 2023, 8:28 PM

Updated: Tue 5 Sep 2023, 9:33 PM

By
Web Desk

Photo: PTI File

If the delay in the announcement of the cricket World Cup schedule wasn't enough, fans have been left scrambling for tickets after they went on sale.

The first pre-sale of tickets were made available on the official ticketing platform recently but fans went through many hurdles, not least technical issues, before they could get hold of tickets.

That aside, the allocation of tickets is limited with a large chunk going to sponsors, members and cricket associations.

Adding to it is that many of the tickets that were sold are reportedly being resold online for massive amounts, especially the blockbuster India-Pakistan encounter in Ahmedabad as well as the India vs Australia fixture in Chennai.

And former India pacer and former India bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad felt things could have been planned better by the host board, in this case, the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

The World Cup is scheduled to be held from October 5 to November 19.

“It’s never been very easy to get World Cup tickets. But this time has been harder than before. Could have been better planned and I feel for the fans who have had high hopes and struggled to get tickets. I sincerely hope one of the most important stakeholders, the Fans get their worth and I hope @BCCI makes it easier for the fans," Prasad wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

“I urge the @BCCI to have more transparency in the World Cup ticketing system and not take fans for granted. Definitely in a stadium like Ahmedabad, for an #IndvsPak clash more than the sold 8500 tickets need to be available when the capacity is 1 lakh plus," the 54-year-old said in another post before adding: “Likewise for all other matches, a larger chunk needs to be for the fans. It will be more fulfilling if the diehard fan is kept happy and not deprived of this opportunity instead of reserving a large chunk for corporates and members."

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