The joy of watching a match at the renovated Wankhede Stadium won’t come cheap in the 2011 Cricket World Cup. On a day when the ICC vice-president Sharad Pawar announced $0.20 (Rs 9 approx) as the lowest price for a ticket in the forthcoming ICC event, the rates at the Wankhede range from $75.00 (Rs 2,500), $150.00 (Rs 5,000) and $300.00 (Rs 10,000), respectively.
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) joint secretary Lalchand Rajput, however, clarified that the released rates were for just two stands, and cheaper tickets will be made available in due course of time. Wankhede will host two group matches and the World Cup final.
The World Cup’s Central Organising Committee (COC) met in the city on Tuesday to announce the first phase of ticket sales. Around 100,000 tickets were released for the event co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
“We have decided to reserve five per cent tickets, which will be available for online sale from today. Five per cent constitutes about 100,000 tickets and it will available to spectators across the globe,” Pawar, who is the COC chairman, said. These tickets are available on www.iccevents.yahoo.com.
“Our approach is to keep rates reasonable. Rates are being finalised and will be announced soon. The lowest, of course, is $0.20 for some of matches in Sri Lanka.”
{{/usCountry}}“Our approach is to keep rates reasonable. Rates are being finalised and will be announced soon. The lowest, of course, is $0.20 for some of matches in Sri Lanka.”
{{/usCountry}}The Wankhede rates, however, point to the contrary. While tickets at other Indian venues are priced as cheap as Rs 100, Rs 150, Rs 200, Rs 250 and Rs 300, Wankhede’s starts from Rs 2,500 for the first match between New Zealand and Canada on March 13.
“The Wankhede Stadium is being rebuilt and Mumbai is the hub of cricket in India. The prices (Rs 2,500, 5000 and 10,000) are minimum. In England, the minimum rate was around £100 during the T20 World Cup. I think Rs 2,500 or Rs 5,000 is much cheaper and it’s only for the people coming from abroad,” said MCA joint secretary Lalchand Rajput.
“Right now, the prices mentioned are just for North and East stands. We are going through the process of deciding rates for other stands. At the moment, we are not sure if we will keep student tickets, but the MCA managing committee will take a call on it,” he said.