New Delhi: The commencement of ticket sales for the long-awaited ICC World Cup 2023 encountered a stumbling block as fans faced difficulties while attempting to secure their seats for the event. The app and website crashed due to heavy traffic.
The official website responsible for ticket sales experienced a 35 to 40-minute outage, leaving fans frustrated and disappointed. The initial day of ticket sales was designated for non-India matches, including the warm-up matches. The process was set to begin at 8 pm local time, but shortly after its commencement, reports emerged of the 'Bookmyshow' application crashing due to the overwhelming surge of users seeking to purchase tickets. 'Bookmyshow' serves as the ticketing partner for the World Cup, scheduled to kick off on October 5.
Fans expressed their discontent over the technical glitch, emphasising the significance of a well-prepared infrastructure for such a monumental event.
One disappointed fan, Atirav Kapur from Delhi, told PTI, "This is really frustrating - after such a delayed announcement of ticket sales, if the basic systems infrastructure is not in place, it speaks very poorly of the mighty BCCI and ICC. Events like these are organised world over and systems like lotteries and ticket queues are common. Why are those not in pace for such a large event."
Although the website resumed functioning after approximately half an hour, the temporary setback led to a considerable number of fans losing their patience and possibly missing out on ticket opportunities.
As the ticket sale for matches excluding those involving India began at 8 pm, some expressed concerns about the potential challenges when tickets for India's games become available. "Ticket sale for matches other than India started at 8 PM. It's 8:08 PM now - BookMyShow app is crashed. Cricket in India. Wondering what will happen when tickets for India's game will go up on sale," wrote Nilesh G on X, formerly Twitter.
The ticket sales for India's matches in Chennai, Delhi, and Pune are slated to commence on August 31.
The much-anticipated tickets for the high-profile India-Pakistan clash in Ahmedabad are set to be released on September 3. In an effort to ensure a smooth experience for fans, the BCCI and ICC opted for a staggered sale process.
This edition of the ODI World Cup is the first to be held in India since 2011.
The organisational challenges around ticket sales and scheduling have raised eyebrows among cricket enthusiasts, particularly in light of the BCCI and ICC's last-minute revision of the schedule for nine games, despite the full schedule having been initially announced in June. This stands in contrast to the approach taken for the previous World Cup editions in England and India, where schedules were announced well in advance.