New Delhi, February 9 The Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) officials face a double challenge for the next nine days as they host five matches of the ICC T20 World Cup at the Feroz Shah Kotla, starting with the game between the Netherlands and Namibia on Tuesday.
The first challenge is a familiar one – a T20I game involving India (vs Namibia) on February 12, for which all tickets are expected to be sold and demand for complimentary passes exceeds expectations.
The second challenge is more interesting: DDCA was asked to contact schools for the non-India matches, where children can watch the proceedings for free if they are in uniform and accompanied by teachers.
However, with the CBSE (10th and 12th standard) exams starting next week and schools also conducting their annual exams during this time of year, most schools have declined the offer to bring their students to watch non-India games.
"We contacted many schools, but with CBSE and annual exams overlapping with the tournament, institutions are not ready to send their students to watch non-India games. In fact, there is no demand for tickets except for the India game. Unlike the Wankhede Stadium, where Nepalese fans made up for 17,000 spectators, the Kotla will be less than half-full, except for the India game," a senior DDCA official, who has been overseeing the arrangements, told
He also explained why children and even college students will likely miss the non-India matches, even if free tickets are distributed.
"An empty stadium doesn't make for good TV viewing, with vast expanses of the galleries being an eyesore. Therefore, bringing in school children is a good idea. However, we have matches on Tuesday (February 10), Thursday (February 12, India vs. UAE), Friday (February 13, UAE vs. Canada), Monday (February 16, Afghanistan vs. UAE), and Wednesday (February 18, South Africa vs. UAE).
"If you look, after excluding the India game, all the matches are on weekdays. Also, the timings for the non-India games are 11 am (3 games) and 3 pm (1 game). How do you expect young people to come? People don't even want premium tickets for non-India games," he jokingly added.