The 2019 edition of the 50-over cricket World Cup began on May 30 at The Oval in London. The schedule for the 10-team competition was announced on April 26, 2018, the first round of ticket sales got underway in September 2018.
The next edition of the quadrennial tournament kicks off in Ahmedabad on October 5, 2023. The original schedule wasn’t made public until June 27, coinciding with the 100-day countdown to the competition. Then, things got worse. A revised – and one hopes final – schedule was released by the International Cricket Council on August 9, though only as an afterthought to the announcement of the commencement of the sale of tickets on August 25. What does one make of this?
Nine of the 45 league matches of the 10-team extravaganza were rescheduled for one reason or the other – Navratri in one part of the country, Kali Puja in another, both of which could and should have been taken into account when the itinerary was first drawn up, belatedly. It was also revealed that certain unnamed member boards had sought further changes; the original schedule had been circulated to all 10 participant boards well in advance, and it was only after their consent was obtained that the sequence of matches was released. Wonder what drove them to ask for dates to be moved around at a later stage.
At the time of publishing, there are reports of the Hyderabad association asking for further changes in schedule for security reasons.
The World Cup is the one-day format’s showpiece event, the lone torchbearer for the 50-over game. Bilateral series have begun to lose relevance, even though it's on the basis of their performances in the ODI Super League – which will cease to exist soon – that teams secured direct qualification to the World Cup. With T20 cricket grabbing the eyeballs and the attention of new converts and the five-day format being the preferred choice of connoisseurs and cricket loyalists, 50-over cricket is struggling to stay afloat. There is a touch of predictability to the proceedings that have slowly weaned spectators away; for those taken in by the adrenaline surge that the 20-over shootout invariably supplies, a seven-hour soap opera minus the dramatics is a bit of a drudge.
Against this backdrop, the primacy of the World Cup can’t be exaggerated. Tasked with the unenviable responsibility of putting bums on seats – either at match venues or on couches/seats/sofas in living rooms or elsewhere – it can do with all the help, to match the unfair expectations placed on it. One would therefore be justified in thinking that the powers that be would do everything to make the World Cup an attractive, irresistible proposition for the most influential stakeholders of the game. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Yes, the sponsors are integral to the success of any event. Yes, broadcast partners are paramount. They provide the money which the ICC is able to distribute to member nations in the hope that these sums will be utilized for the purpose for which they are handed down – to grow and develop the sport, to improve infrastructure, to offer opportunities and facilities at the grassroots level. But as significant as these cash cows are, they will – or at least should – always come second to the lay cricket fan, whose patronage and support has made the sport what it is.
Fans from all across the world converge on the host nation during a World Cup, in the process also bolstering the economy of the said country, a bonus of sorts. They may not come in their thousands like they do for the football World Cup which boasts a bigger field – 32 teams – and far greater popularity, but several loyalists save up for years to make the cricketing pilgrimage to support their heroes. In Australia last year, for instance, Indian fans travelled from Brazil and Canada to back the team during the T20 World Cup. Because the schedule had been announced well ahead of time and because tickets went up for sale equally early, they were able to make clear-cut travel and accommodation plans. Contrast that with what’s in front now. Most will have to wait until 40 days before the start of the tournament to make their bookings, because there is no guarantee that they will be able to procure online tickets. Those that chose to make reservations as per the June 27 announcement – and you can’t really blame them, who would realistically expect a schedule change at that late stage? – will have to walk a wildly swaying tightrope.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has understandably been at the receiving end of numerous barbs for this avoidable confusion. The BCCI is the host board, but the tournament is the property of the ICC. And even if the BCCI is culpable of all that it is being accused of, the buck must stop with the sport’s global governing body which, it must be pointed out, is nothing more than an entity made up of its member boards, not an independent and autonomous unit that can function beyond the pressures and pulls of its constituents. Not that this distinction is any solace for the thousands of fans in different countries who might have planned a visit to India in October-November, but many of whom will now have second thoughts given the soaring costs as a result of the inordinate delays.
As it is, hotel room rates in Ahmedabad have gone through the roof for the India-Pakistan game (now to be held on October 14) and for the final on November 19. Rooms that would normally go for Rs 6,000 are being sold at, and bought for, more than 10 times that price. Perhaps that’s how demand and supply works and most cities that stage major sporting extravaganzas see a spike during the event, but the astronomical difference between the normal and the abnormal doesn’t edify anyone.
The lack of explanation, let alone apology, for the already late announcement of the schedule and of ticket sales, further exacerbated by the nine date changes, points to a systemic apathy towards the fan that is often interpreted as inherent arrogance on the part of cricket’s administrative hierarchy. There is no point in paying lip service to spectator-friendliness when the ground reality is entirely different. And depressing.
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