BJP Sets Goal of Participating in Over 1,000 Durga Pujas in Bengal

One week prior to the highly anticipated India vs Pakistan match at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday, the BCCI unexpectedly declared that an additional 14,000 tickets will be available for purchase.

The big-bill tie's ticket sales date was originally scheduled by the BCCI for September 3. Everyone was taken aback by the news, which sparked rumors that the event's owners, the ICC, and the hosts, BCCI, were conspiring to mislead the public about the precise number of tickets offered for sale.

Tickets have been sold by the BCCI via the website bookmyshow.com. Confusion resulted from the portal showing "sold out" for all India games and a few non-India fixtures for which tickets had already been made available. The majority of grounds represented a quite different reality; sections of the stands, which were supposed to be "sold out," showed vacant seats and frequently very small people.

What had taken place? Every ticket had vanished from sight. The world's greatest cricket match, which is now being held in several sites throughout India, is currently unavailable to spectators due to a number of issues, including inadequate planning, outsourcing done poorly, hoarding, and mishandled public relations.

In short, cricket fans have found it difficult and often expensive to secure tickets to the games, particularly the important ones.

An ICC representative told The Telegraph, "We wouldn't provide comment at this stage of the event," despite the fact that no one from the BCCI was ready to go on the record.

Nevertheless, a thorough analysis of the procedure revealed that the majority of the tickets offered for every match at every location had been reserved for the BCCI and ICC's sponsors, business partners, and visitors. This comprised chairs in the galleries and corporate boxes.

The state associations were subsequently given access to the remaining tickets, and after consulting with the BCCI, they determined which proportion of them would be placed up for sale.

The tickets are rare because there were just a few that were eventually put up for sale. The number of tickets available for the average person decreases with the size of the stadium.

The members of the state association, clubs, connected units, police, bureaucrats, and ministers were often given fewer numbers than before due to the increased demand from sponsors and commercial partners.

The amount of tickets reserved for the Cricket Association of Bengal's members and clubs has been greatly impacted by this. Every other association has also been impacted.

It is mandatory for all hosting associations to adhere to the criteria that the BCCI has given about its agreement with the ICC. The ICC decides how many tickets it needs for each of its partners. Additionally, the BCCI makes its own requests, according to an unnamed official.

"In these competitions, the ICC is comparable to the owners of IPL franchises. The official stated, "They determine how many tickets they need to fulfill their own obligations and own the tickets."

How, therefore, were tickets for the India-Pakistan match and other matches that had been listed as "sold out" suddenly made available? This is where the catch is.

In accordance with their contractual duties, the ICC and the BCCI have committed to a number of stakeholders to provide a set number of seats. However, there are instances when these tickets are not fully utilized, which results in an excess of stock. After that, these are put up for public sale on the internet platform.

Similar situations occur with stadium seats that are unoccupied despite the portal indicating that they are "sold out". It's possible that the business partners didn't find enough takers or ways to use their quota. Due to lack of time or resources, tickets cannot be returned to the ICC or BCCI for general distribution, leaving seats empty.

Although it is believed that about 50% of the tickets are intended for the ICC and its partners, neither the BCCI nor the ICC are prepared to reveal the exact amount of tickets that are still available for the associations to satisfy their own requests.

Naturally, there are more tickets available for spectators to purchase at a stadium like the one in Motera, which can hold more than 1.20 lakh, than at other locations.

However, there's no need to worry if ardent supporters of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were unable to reserve seats using the official online booking portal. Tickets are purportedly available, albeit at a premium, through a "unofficial online alternative."

On Thursday, October 19, India and Bangladesh are scheduled to meet in Pune. There are no tickets left; the game is "sold out," according to Bookmyshow.com. Tickets via the official channel start at Rs 1,200, but on viagogo.com, a website that offers resale tickets, the starting price is more than Rs 5,000.

What about November 5 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata when India plays the undefeated South Africa? Bookmyshow's website indicates "coming soon" for this game, indicating that reservations have not yet begun. Although official ticket prices are anticipated to begin at Rs 900, tickets for the match are currently on sale at viagogo.com, with prices ranging from Rs 10,943 to Rs 37,551 for the K-Block as of the time this report was written. Since the game is based on traditional supply and demand economics, prices will almost certainly increase as it gets closer.

It is unclear how viagogo.com manages to sell tickets ahead of the official online ticket partner opening for reservations. The company's website states that viagogo.com is the biggest secondary market in the world for live event tickets. It attempts to give ticket purchasers the greatest selection of tickets to events worldwide and assists ticket sellers—from private citizens with extra tickets to major international event organizers—in reaching a worldwide audience.

According to the company's website, it is registered in Delaware, US; however, a whois.com domain check performed by this newspaper revealed that the website's domain was registered in Geneva. Reviews on different websites are inconsistent, with some saying that they were scammed and others saying that they were happy with their tickets.

As per the FAQ on bookmyshow.com, tickets can only be bought online through the official ticket sales website, which can be accessed at https://tickets.cricketworldcup.com.

According to the sales portal, a queuing system will be in place during periods of high traffic and it will run on a first come, first served basis. The FAQ warns potential customers that navigating away from the holding page or clicking back or refresh on the browser will cause them to lose their place in the queue while they are in it.

The portal warns users not to leave the queue as doing so will result in them losing their position in line, among other cautions. It also emphasizes that making a reservation does not always require standing in line.

Bookmyshow has not responded to an email requesting more information about the success rates, queue dropout frequency, and ticket purchasing procedure.

The pattern of empty stands across games has become the subject of caustic mockery among the game’s elite followers.

Former England captain Michael Vaughn remarked on X recently why the India game in Delhi vs Afghanistan had so many empty seats.

“Are u watching the game or empty seats?” came a riposte from former spin ace and television commentator Harbhajan Singh.