New Delhi: ICC World Twenty20's twin qualifiers (Hong Kong vs Zimbabwe and Afghanistan vs Scotland) were on Tuesday played in front of empty stands in Nagpur.
According to a report in the Times of India, this was a result of Vidarbha Cricket Association's (VCA) decision to wait until the last minute to issue tickets at the venue.
Several fans that wanted to watch these games had no clue where to buy the tickets from.
On Wednesday, VCA did send a press release stating that tickets would be sold at old VCA stadium premises. However, they did not send this to all media houses.
“They could've certainly used some common sense and planned this better. Unless they were expecting online buyers to flood the gates for these qualifiers,” an official told the TOI.
A VCA official claimed that the association had placed ads in local newspaper to inform fans about the availaibility of tickets. However, this information was not communicated to BCCI or ICC who could have help pass it on to a larger audience.
This ticketing fiasco comes as an embarrassment to the BCCI, considering Nagpur is the home turf of Shashank Mahonar.
“It's the onset of summer and temperature is touching 40 degrees. Fans came all the way to Jamtha a long drive from the city limits on the national highway and had to return empty handed. The gates were locked and it was then that it occurred to them that no ticketing facilities were available at the stadium,” the official added.
