"Reserving a large chunk for corporates" - Venkatesh Prasad urges BCCI to not take fans for granted after 2023 World Cup tickets fiasco

Former India bowler and coach Venkatesh Prasad has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to be more "transparent" in its 2023 World Cup ticket sales. He said they should have focussed on keeping diehard fans happy instead of setting aside most of the tickets for the World Cup for corporates and members.

Many fans faced issues in booking tickets for the mega tournament on the website of the official partner, BookMyShow, especially for matches involving India. Despite joining on time for the sale, they were stranded for hours in digital queues although all available seats were sold out within minutes.

Later, speculation rose through some accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter), who claimed to be ethical hackers, that only a small percentage of seats were made available to the common audience for the India-Pakistan match in Ahmedabad on BookMyShow.

Prasad took to social media on Monday (September 4) and said:

"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 +"

He added:

"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."

The sales started less than two months before the first match too, causing scheduling and logistics issues for fans travelling from abroad.

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"This time has been harder than before" - Venkatesh Prasad

In another social media post, Venkatesh Prasad opined that the sales could have been "better planned" and hoped that the BCCI would improve its services for one of the "most important stakeholders" of Indian cricket - the fans.

He said:

"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."

The 2023 ODI World Cup will get underway on October 5 with a clash between England and New Zealand.