ICC World Cup 2023 Ticket Sales Off To Rocky Start As App And Website Crash

The much-awaited sale of tickets for the ODI World Cup 2023 began on Friday, but fans encountered significant difficulties while attempting to book tickets due to a 35- to 40-minute outage on the official website.

The first day of ticket sales was for non-India matches, including warm-up games. However, the process began at 8:00 PM local time, and shortly thereafter, fans reported that the Bookmyshow app crashed under the surge of users trying to secure their tickets.

Bookmyshow is the designated ticketing partner for the World Cup, which is set to kick off on October 5.

A disappointed fan from Delhi, Atirav Kapur, expressed his frustration to news agency PTI, saying, "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 organized all over the world, and systems like lotteries and ticket queues are common. Why are those not in place for such a large event?"

Although the website began functioning about half an hour into the ticket sales period, a considerable number of fans had already lost their patience by then.

Another fan, Nilesh G, shared on social media, "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."

Ticket sales for India's matches in Chennai, Delhi, and Pune are scheduled to go live on August 31, while tickets for the highly anticipated India-Pakistan match in Ahmedabad will become available on September 3.

The BCCI and ICC had opted for a phased ticket sale process with the intention of providing a smoother experience for fans.

However, the technical difficulties experienced on Friday have raised concerns about the ability of the organizers to handle the large volume of traffic that is expected when tickets for India's matches go on sale.

Criticism from fans has also been directed at the organizers for their handling of the scheduling for the first ODI World Cup in India since 2011.

In a departure from precedent, the BCCI and ICC revised the schedule for as many as nine games earlier this month, following the full schedule announcement in June. In contrast, the schedules for the previous World Cup in England and the 2011 edition in India were disclosed well in advance. The organisers have yet to respond.