World Cup: With Virat Kohli led India out, ICC starts ticket return policy; onus on fans not to sell at higher rates

ICC ODI World Cup: In a most unexpected turn of events, the Indian cricket team was knocked out of the ICC ODI World Cup on Wednesday after losing to New Zealand by 18 runs despite restricting the opposition for just 239 runs in 50 overs. Now, with the Virat Kohli-led side failing to make it to the final of the marquee tournament, ICC faces a new challenge in the form of black marketing of tickets for the final. To curb the same, the International Cricket Council has started a return policy wherein fans can get a full refund if they return their tickets.

The governing body believes that this move would help it counter the nemesis of black marketing of match tickets, especially in the knockout games. The move helped a lot of Indians ahead of the game against New Zealand at the Old Trafford in Manchester too as men in blue were unlikely to finish on top of the points table. "You were right in seeing tickets being sold on the match day because we had quite a few non-Indian fans returning the ticket as they weren`t expecting Virat Kohli and boys finish at the top of the points table at the end of the group stage," an official told IANS.

He added that it is not possible for the council to stop the whole process of black marketing of tickets but believes that this policy will help reduce such cases. 

"If an individual wants to buy a ticket from the official site or ticket counter outside a stadium and then decides to sell it at a higher rate, our hands are literally tied. But with this policy wherein fans can return the tickets and get a full refund, we at the ICC, are at least trying to give genuine fans an opportunity to return the match ticket and get their money back so that they don`t sell their tickets at a higher price. After that it is clearly the call of the fans," the official said.

To return these tickets, fans can simply drop a mail to the ticket section of the ICC, the e-tickets and barcodes can be recreated and freshly issued to other people. "Making the whole process simple is the main idea," the official said. The second semi-final of the World Cup will be played between Australia and England on Thursday. The winner will take on the Blackcaps in the final on Sunday.