Many cricket fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Team India live on field during the upcoming ICC ODI Cricket World Cup have been left disappointed, with match tickets selling out within minutes.
Bookings for India matches for the general public opened from August 30 in phases. However, many fans have been complaining of long waiting periods or sold-out windows on the official booking platform, BookMyShow.
“I have been trying to book a ticket for myself and a friend for the last few days, but so far it has been a frustrating experience,” says Avinash Gokhale, 39, an advocate and avid cricket buff based out of Thane, near Mumbai.
X, formerly Twitter, has been abuzz over the last few days with fans venting their frustration for not being able to purchase the tickets despite logging in at the prescribed time and date.
The tournament will feature 58 matches, including 10 warm-up fixtures, across 12 venues, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said in a statement. While a pre-sale for Mastercard debit and credit card holders was undertaken on August 24 and 29, sale of tickets for all non-India warm-up matches and event matches began on August 25.
Tickets for these matches, such as Australia vs Netherlands, England vs Bangladesh, New Zealand vs South Africa, Pakistan vs Australia are still available with prices ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 per person, BookMyShow shows.
The real interest, however, is in the India matches. BookMyShow shows sold-out windows for these matches, at key venues such as Chennai, Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, as well as smaller locations such as Dharamshala and Lucknow.
Ticket prices for these matches vary between Rs 1,000 and Rs 25,000 per person depending on the venue, view and stand, cricket experts said. VIP box rates range from anywhere upwards of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per person.
“I am an avid follower of cricket. I would have loved to be a part of the action on the field as a spectator, but I am yet to get a ticket,” Varunraj Nannaware, a 21-year-old medical student from Mumbai, said.
Tickets for the India-Pakistan match, to be held at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on October 14, were flying off the shelves after bookings opened on Sunday.
This was the last match for which tickets opened, before bookings for the crucial semi-final and final matches go on sale on September 15, the BCCI said.
Some fans are still hoping to catch the Word Cup action on the ground.