As the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata gears up to host the blockbuster India-South Africa match on Sunday, which also is Virat Kohli’s birthday, cricket fans are desperately searching for elusive World Cup tickets, and frauds and black-marketeers are having a field day.
Social media sites are awash with posts offering tickets which cost an arm and a leg. Virat Kohli fans and well-wishers who want to witness him match Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most One Day International (ODI) centuries (49) on his 35th birthday, are desperately dialling the numbers.
Tickets for the high-voltage World Cup clash between India and South Africa at the Eden Gardens on Sunday are selling on social media, or so claim advertisements complete with phone numbers and other contact details. The Daily Guardian posed as a buyer and called two of those numbers to find out what was on offer.
The man who answered one of the calls hung up. The other said he would sell two Club House tickets for Rs 16,000. He wanted the money to be transferred online to the Google Pay account attached to another mobile number and the tickets were to be collected from “an office” near gate No. 2 of the stadium.
In reality, Club House tickets are not for sale. This newspaper contacted a person whose name was displayed as “Rahul B” on Facebook and he claimed to be in possession of tickets for many World Cup matches.
“My name is Amit Jain. I have an office at Satyam Bhavan near gate No. 2 of the Eden Gardens. You will have to make an advance payment for booking tickets,” the man said in Hindi.
He shared a mobile number for transferring the money to the Google Pay account attached to it. “I can provide any ticket, starting from Rs 1,500. You please tell me your budget,” he said.
When this newspaper asked for Club House tickets, the man asked for Rs 16,000 for two tickets. He said he had purchased the two Club House tickets for Rs 7,500 each and wanted to keep a “small margin”.
“These are genuine tickets. I have procured them through genuine means which I can’t tell you about,” he said when asked about the source of the tickets.
This newspaper found several others on social media who shared their contact details and claimed to be selling match tickets.
Kolkata residents trying to purchase tickets for the India vs. South Africa match at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 encountered difficulties on the online portal bookmyshow.com. Many reported that tickets for the Sunday match were either “sold out” or that they were asked to “wait in the queue.”