Why? When? How long? The richest cricket body has been plagued with numerous questions in its first endeavour to host World Cup 2023. Despite releasing the World Cup schedule late, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has hit a roadblock. The schedule is set to be released this week along with ticket information. However, in the absence of both and poor planning, other cricket boards, fans as well as the International Cricket Council (ICC) are fuming at the BCCI.
After BCCI vs PCB conflict forced a late release of the schedule, now, it is set to be revised. Why? BCCI and its partners failed to foresee festive dates clashing with World Cup 2023. Why is it a big issue? It is because all matches need police protection and the state governments won’t be able to arrange any in case it clashes with festive dates.
Festive date clash for venues
- Ahmedabad: India vs Pakistan (October 15): Instead of Oct 15, Ahmedabad will host the match on Oct 14. Oct 15 marks the beginning of Navratri.
- Kolkata: November 12: Pakistan vs England date will change as Kolkata Police has refused police protection owing to Kali Puja on Nov 12.
As a result, tickets have been late. It is only last week that state associations sent in their ticket strategy with pricing with less than 60 days to go for the event. But when Australia hosted T20 World Cup 2022, tickets were available six months before the tournament.
As per GeoNews, several boards including Pakistan Cricket Board are unhappy as they are not able to plan their travel. With the uncertainty over dates, the boards are facing logistical issues.
As for fans, they have already been fuming. Hotel and air ticket prices have skyrocketed. Most of the four and five-star hotels are either fully booked or are going at a higher price than usual. Delhi to Ahmedabad flights which cost below Rs 3000 is now over Rs 6000 between October 13-15. To make things worse, there will be no e-ticket. Instead, fans will have to collect tickets from stadium box offices.
ICC unhappy with IND vs NZ World Cup 2023 venue
However, it’s not just fans, ICC is also fuming at the BCCI for lacklustre planning. India vs New Zealand blockbuster match will be in Dharamshala on October 22. However, ICC’s commercial division is unhappy with such a small venue (23,000) hosting the match. It is a loss of revenue for the governing body. They believe it is not economically viable to host such a big match.
However, so far BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has only predicted a change in schedule. When? Nobody knows. When will the tickets be out? The answer is soon.
InsideSport reached out to a BCCI official on the date of revised schedule and tickets. The answers for both were “Soon”.
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