On 9th September, Venkatesh Prasad, the former Indian cricketer conveyed his frustration on social media regarding the problems surrounding scheduling the ICC World Cup 2023. Without even mentioning the name of BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, Prasad criticized the BCCI for creating chaos and mismanagement associated with the upcoming cricket tournament.
The BCCI official has been under the media spotlight for various negative reasons. He has faced major criticism due to the evident mismanagement and scheduling difficulties surrounding two prominent cricket events, the ongoing Asia Cup and the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023. The game is scheduled to take place in India during October and November. These issues have gathered significant attention and scrutiny, eliminating the BCCI’s ability to effectively organize these crucial cricket tournaments.
The Asia Cup has been substantially destroyed due to the heavy rainfall in Sri Lanka. These unfavorable weather conditions had a severe impact in conducting the tournament. The ICC World Cup 2023 is facing a shortage of available tickets, which has been worsened due to the delayed release of ticket sales by the Indian cricket board. This delay has caused frustration among the fans who were looking to secure their tickets well in advance.
Moreover, the BCCI has found it essential to make changes to the World Cup’s schedule, which includes the rescheduling of high-profile clashes between India and Pakistan which was originally planned in Ahmedabad. This rescheduling decision was made in concerns related to security and complaints from other cricket boards that are sending their teams to participate in the tournament that is hosted in India.
Prasad expressed his criticism in X (formerly Twitter) of the BCCI. He asked the cricket board to simplify the procedures for fans to attend World Cup matches in stadiums. “There is no space for debate or uncertainty regarding the mismanagement in the World Cup. The initial delays in scheduling were unreasonable and the subsequent schedule changes disturbed 5 matches. The ticketing system has been troubled by a lack of transparency and inefficiency, intentionally encouraging the black market activities”, he stated.
“Hosting a World Cup tournament is a moment of pride and it should have been a wonderful time for fans. However, the challenges faced by fans seem to be more than just random circumstances. It’s time that we acknowledge these issues and not let inabilities become the standard, even if those remain silent in agreement. We have a strong team and a participant for the World Cup, but genuine fans filling the stadiums is required for supporting our team”,Prasad wrote tweets on X.
Fans should experience something much smoother and more straightforward than it happening. To achieve this, the BCCI must improve their efforts. The way the World Cup is organized reflects on our entire nation, this is a matter of national pride and we should not accept any shortcomings. In his tweet, Prasad indirectly suggested Jay Shah’s involvement in the ongoing BCCI turmoil. He emphasized how the actions of one individual, who exhibits corruption and arrogance, can affect the reputation of a generally non-corrupt organization.
