Disgruntled fans cry foul over ticketing process

Devansh Patel convinced three friends to take what they were calling the trip of a lifetime by promising that if they attended at least five matches of the ICC World Cup 2023 he would drive them to every vineyard in Nashik and Akluj for the following two weeksPatel a software engineer by profession is the only cricket fan in the group To such an extent that the 29yearold takes pride in the fact that he has never missed a single over or even a ball of the matches that involve his favourite teams namely India and Australia However grape stomping or vineyard tours come above everything else for his friends Dhruvan Akaash and Sanjay as the trio decided to break their cricket embargo for just this one occasion lsquoFor the love of winersquo Dhruvan insistedAlso ReadIN PHOTOS Pakistan vs Netherlands heres all you need to knowOn August 3 Patel booked four tickets to watch India face Pakistan in the tournamentrsquos group stage on October 15 in Motera and entrusted Sanjay with splitting travel and accommodation costs evenly among themselves It seemed like a perfect plan until the ICC organisers put their tolerance to a severe test by releasing a revised schedule for the World CupldquoWe especially Devansh were heartbroken Travel hotel bookings ndash everything was preplanned They should have informed in advance if something like this was to happen I must tell you getting hold of the match tickets was no easy feat either There has been a lot of mismanagement during the entire ticketing processrdquo Sanjay told MidDayA dismayed Devansh fuelled by his love of cricket later made a fresh travel booking for himself for October 14 revised India vs Pakistan fixture but disappointment spiralled through him again as he failed to get hold of his match tickets even after completing paymentldquoI was redirected to the seat selection tab followed by the payment page An error occurred and I was given a long waiting time of six hours It was insane I was happy to have cleared the waiting time but was redirected to seat selection once again even after completing the payment There were only five seats available at that time all four of us tried our best but no one got through This continued for the next few hours and finally the lsquotickets sold outrsquo popup appeared out of nowhere My money was deducted but I had no ticketsrdquo he explainedPatel added that initial roundtrip flight tickets cost him Rs 30000 per person but prices soared after the fixtures were rescheduled with oneway tickets costing Rs 23000 alone ldquoDonrsquot even get me started on the hotel expensesrdquo he said When MidDay contacted several threestar hotels within walking distance of the Motera stadium it became clear that the unprecedented changes to the fixture list made matters worse for fans after prices of hotel rooms soared by more than 10 times the usual costAfter much deliberation Patel and his friends decided to go no further than the Wankhede But all seats were already sold out by then It is then that one of Akaashrsquos friends suggested they purchase tickets through thirdparty vendors who resell tickets at inflated pricesDespite repeated warnings by the cricketrsquos governing body regarding the validity of tickets purchased through thirdparty vendors touts are still quoting extortionate sums for right of entry to stadiums However a major problem faced by lastminute ticket buyers like Devansh is that they are mostly unaware of whether their black market tickets are valid until they scan them at the entranceWhile unofficial reselling of tickets is not illegal they contradict the World Cup terms and conditions and the ICC has repeatedly cancelled tickets that were up for sale on the resale websitesIn fact those attempting to sell for a profit in this manner are contacted by the ICC and let off with a formal warning with their tickets subsequently being cancelled if they are not delisted but that has not stopped thousands of ticketholders coolly going about their businessThe ICC under such circumstances is powerless to prevent the black market from thriving and making money off fansrsquo desire to be part of something that they love ldquoIrsquove already sunk so much money into going so far I paid for my travel and lodging I think I am just too far in That is the only option for me right nowrdquo Patel saidA Mumbaibased ticket scalper who declined to be named told MidDay that he had earned enough money in a month to pay for his trip to the final plus a bonus While it is for cricket loyalists like Devansh who help these hawkers thrive others questioned the authenticity of BookMyShow the official ticketing partner for the World CupldquoWe must get a clear picture of how many seats were actually put up on sale on BookMyShow and how many were sold It is possible they are themselves selling these tickets on the resale sites Everything must be done officiallyrdquo demanded Sagar Jaiswal a 34yearold telesales executive from Greater NoidaJaiswal later stumbled upon Viagogo a multinational ticket resale brand where he revealed the most expensive ticket for India vs Pakistan was priced in millions ldquoThis is ridiculous Everyone is after profit and in the end the genuine fans are affected These big tournaments work like a magnet for these touts and scammers and how easily people even give inrdquo he added