'It's disgraceful and sad': fans react over empty stands in WI vs PNG T20 World Cup match - Cricket Winner
West Indies began their Caribbean leg of the tournament on Sunday where they played against Papua New Guinea at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.
| June 3, 2024 at 8:25 AM
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After the USA’s stunning win against Canada in the 2024 T20 World Cup opener at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas on Saturday, co-hosts West Indies also began their Caribbean leg of the tournament on Sunday where they played against Papua New Guinea at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. However, the lack of spectators and empty stands at the venue left fans angry and they reacted on social media and slammed the ICC.
Meanwhile, a decent number of fans at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on Saturday were present as New York hosted their international cricket for the first time. On the other hand, India played a warm-up game against Bangladesh, and West Indies, who are the two-time champions of the T20 World Cup, were welcomed by a small number of crowd in Guyana as well.
Amidst this, ICC was severely criticised, with fans on social media saying that the increased ticket price could be the reason behind the home crowd showing less interest as well.
SEE ALSO: Rohit Sharma urges US Police to go easy with the pitch invader during IND vs BAN warm-up match
Fans reacted to an empty stadium
However, there are still tickets available for the much-awaited India-Pakistan game on June 9 in New York, especially for the Diamond Club, Corner Clubs, and Premium Club Lounge (North) sections. Meanwhile, one of the biggest reasons for this could be the pricing of the tickets.
“I don’t think there is enough buzz for the World Cup here as compared to India, because it hasn’t been marketed as much. I feel they could have done a lot more in terms of build-up. But I am hoping that as the tournament progresses, it will gain more interest. When you travel through areas or via airports, there’s not much buzz or hoardings.” said Prasanna Balakrishnan, who will be there in the stadium to watch all of India’s league matches in New York and Florida as well.
“When you go through an airport in a country hosting a major event like a World Cup, you get to see hoardings or other signs there for it. But I have seen from people travelling for the tournament through their X (formerly Twitter) posts that there hasn’t been much on this front,” he said. “Tournament promotions in the USA have been here and there. It has been decent, but not as much because other than the Asian population over here and in other places, I am not sure if it has reached much.”
“Time will tell about it as there are a few good games in Dallas, New York, and Florida, including matches of USA, Canada, and Nepal as well, and how they are received,” further added Prasanna.
On the other hand, a release from USA Cricket earlier this week said fans can now buy tickets for the co-hosts’ three home matches (barring the one against India) at a discount of 25% as well. The move shows the lack of buzz for the tournament as well.
Roston Chase played a quickfire knock
Meanwhile, West Indies registered a thrilling win in their T20 World Cup opener after PNG put them under pressure. But Roston Chase (42* off 27) and Andre Russell (15 off 9) kept calm and guided the team to script a five-wicket win.
Roston Chase, Player of the Match said: “Very pleased to start the tournament with a win and to take the team over the line. I knew that it was hard for the batters coming in, gave myself time and backed my skills. I watched the PNG batters, they took their time and once they got in it was easy to score.
I have worked hard, had a preparation camp in Antigua and brought that confidence into the game. We don’t want to take any team lightly, they (PNG) are here which means they are deserving, we want to play the same way we would play India or Australia.”
Tags:
PNGT20 World CupWest Indies