In the past, we bought tickets to see the World Cup Cricket matches in 3 different countries. I want to share my experience. I learned a lesson also that will be provided at the end of this post.
We bought 3 tickets to watch a double header at the Oval in England, 8 tickets to watch a match in Chennai, India, and 3 tickets to watch a match in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Because of a scheduling problem, we were unable to attend the Colombo match. I wrote to the organization from where I bought the tickets and explained my problem. They immediately refunded my money.
Oval Match in England.
It was a T20 double header. First match was South Africa vs West Indies. Second match was Pakistan vs New Zealand. We had reserved seats with row and seat numbers. We were a little bit late. By the time we reached our reserved seats, national anthems of both South Africa and West Indies had already sang. (or is it sung? Since I did not go to Harvard, I do not know which one is correct.)
The whole stadium was jam packed. Our seats were not occupied by anyone else. It was in a very comfortable place. It was next to where Pakistani players sat. One usher came and said that this place is for Pakistani supporters and, if we want, he could give us an alternative better seat to watch. We thanked him and said “no thanks” and remained in our seats for the entire double header. We even shook hands with Shahid Afridi
Both matches were very enjoyable. The more beer consumed the more enjoyable the matches were. HeHeHe.
Match in Chennai.
It was an ODI. India vs West Indies. We bought 8 tickets, each at a very high price. We got the reserved tickets with row and seat numbers. We went to the stadium one hour before the start of the match. Surprise. Surprise. The whole stadium was jam packed. Our 8 reserved seats were occupied by unknown people. We told them these are our seats and they just ignored us. We called this to the attention of the ushers and the police security. They both said: Koottam jasthiya irukku sir. Konjam adjust pannikinga sir. Enga kaaliya seat irukko anga utkarunga sir. (Today too much crowd sir. Please have some adjustment sir. Please sit where you can find an empty seat sir.)
There was nothing we could do. Finally, we sat in the Bob Uecker seat*. There was no organized place to sell soft drinks and water. They were at random places and spectators were mobbing those sellers.
So the lesson is never ever watch a world cup cricket match in person in India. Better to watch them in TV.
* Bob Uecker was a professional baseball player in USA. He acted in a Miller Lite Bob Uecker commercial. In that commercial he boasted he got a special ticket to watch a baseball game and finally ended up sitting in the last seat at the top most upper deck. The ad has become so famous that if people get a “not so good” seat at sporting events, they call it a Bob Uecker seat.
