ICC World T20 2016: Tickets still not up for sale, with less than a month left for the event
It has been five years since India last hosted a World Cup but the problems still galore for the fans of the biggest cricket market regarding the ticket sales.
Also read: ICC T20 World Cup 2016: Demands for ticket of India-Pakistan clash sky high
Now, with India hosting ICC World Twenty 20 in 2016 and the tournament just over a month away there are no signs of concrete information regarding ticket sales. The cricket crazy people are still wondering when and on which website the tickets will go live.
Since it is an ICC event, tickets were expected to be available at least a few months ahead, but with the fixtures being announced only with less than three months to the event, this delay was on the cards.
Also read: ICC World T20: How to book India-Pakistan match tickets online?
But in the end, it is the fans who suffer because of these delays as fans from abroad are also planning their trip for the pinnacle event.
Memories of 2011 World Cup ticket fiasco are still fresh in the Indian fans’ minds as they had to face Lathicharge, crashed websites, and non-delivery of the online booked tickets. This time, with tickets expected to go on sale only with a month to go for the event, the problem has aggravated even further.
When ICC was asked about such a delay, they were prompt to mention that ticketing process is the prerogative of the host board and when the same question was put up to BCCI, they came up with a lame excuse that more the time they offer for ticket sales, more is the demand of complimentary passes.
Tickets have been made available six months in advance for previous events
However, India have set the record for putting the tickets up for sale with least amount of planning time available for the fans when it comes to world events.
For the record, in the 2011 World Cup, which was co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in February-March 2011, tickets went up for sale on June 1, 2010.
In 2012, Sri Lanka offered World T20 tickets six months before the event. The West Indies provided a five-and-a-half-month notice for the World T20 in 2010.
Bangladesh, who hosted the World T20 in March 2014, started the sale of tickets on November 17, 2013. Even South Africa, who hosted the first World T20, put up tickets for sale three months in advance.
Now, at the very least, the fans would be hoping that the ICC World Twenty 20 2016 proves to be bigger and better for them as well, as promised by the ICC during their latest meeting held in Dubai.
After all this long wait and patience, fans across the globe really deserve the ticketing process to be smooth and transparent, unlike the 2011 World Cup, so that they can term this delayed ticket sale to be worthy at last.