ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is getting close – The ‘Big Daddy’ of Cricket !
Cricketing news is refusing to die down. After the IPL mania and than the T20 World Cup, it’s the turn of Big Daddy of them all – the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
The 43-day tournament which is set to be held in the Indian sub-continent region will be co-hosted by joint efforts of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The World Cup Central Organizing Committee has released over 1 lakh tickets as part of its first phase of online ticket sales.
The ICC has appointed KyaZoonga.com as the official ticketing partner for this World Cup 2011 and tickets for the event went live since yesterday June 1st.
The ticket fares are interesting to note as well as a bit surprising to believe. Yes, surprising because tickets available in Sri Lanka are in the range of Rs.9 (or roughly 20 cents) to Rs.1800. In India, it could cost you minimum Rs.100 and if you’re one of those wealthy guys who could afford luxury tickets, you could as well opt for those Rs.15000 worth of tickets.
The first phase of the ticket sales will be available primarily online. As a part of the second phase of sale of tickets, they would also be available through retail outlets, travel operators and box office sales.
Guess what? Tickets for the final match to be held at Wankhede stadium at Mumbai will be priced in the range of Rs.10000 to Rs.15000. Ironically, Sharad Pawar has said that, “The approach has been to keep pricing reasonable.” Possibly, he would be referring to those Rs.100 tickets which could be very limited in number.
You might argue the rates are reasonable for the final clash encounter looking at hype related to that particular game. In that case, take the case of a match where India is not a party to the game. A match featuring New Zealand vs. Canada at the Wankhede stadium would cost a minimum of Rs.2500/-. Where will a middle class person, at least in Mumbai, fit in this scheme of arrangement?
Anyways, any guess who bought the first ticket to the World Cup?
Well, it’s our own Sharad Pawar.