Ninad Indapurkar, a 29-year-old cricket fanatic from Pune, had budgeted at the beginning of the year to watch at least one ODI World Cup match at Ahmedabad’s biggest cricket stadium. The tax consultant had to abandon the plan because he was concerned it would cost more than he had planned because there was no schedule announced until June.
Tanvir Ahmed and 17 friends obtained tickets for at least two of their league games in neighbouring Bangladesh, but only three have visas. It requires at least three months to process an Indian visa for a citizen of Bangladesh.
Tanvir and Indapurkar both have the same complaint. “We would not have suffered if the World Cup schedule and ticketing had been announced well in advance.”
The pair stands in for a large number of cricket fans who were dissatisfied with the International Cricket Council’s and the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s lack of preparation for the Men’s World Cup. A World Cup hosted in India presents a chance for cricket to draw supporters and business partners from all over the world, including relatively unexplored regions. Cricket is a sport that, despite having players from more than 100 countries, is still primarily thought of as a sport played in just 10 countries.
It appears that the World Cup schedule was a mistake made by both the ICC and BCCI. Unlike other major sporting events, like the Olympics, the fixtures weren’t released until 100 days before the first game on October 5. Additionally, 20% of the original schedule was later revised with 57 days left, which raised concerns among cricket fans on social media about whether the biggest World Cup in history will also be the messiest.
“This situation is unprecedented. Nazmul Hasan, head of business operations at Discovery Tours and Logistic, a Dhaka-based company that is an ICC-affiliated official travel agent for the World Cup, says, “We don’t know how to handle all these issues in such a short period of time.
Before, travel brokers had six months to organise ICC World Cup tours. But not this time. “Obtaining an Indian visa requires a lengthy process for citizens of Bangladesh. Currently, the wait period is at least three months, which means the World Cup will have ended by then. Therefore, it’s very challenging for Bangladeshi fans to travel to the World Cup unless they already have an Indian visa, claims Hasan.
