Visa backlog, limited tickets, but city fans firm on seeing WC live

Chartered accountant Rakesh Rao applied for 10 tickets as soon as the window opened in December 2018. “They use a ballot to select buyers and at the end, I managed to get only one ticket at that time,” said the 31-year-old, a resident of Mylapore. Later, however, he managed to bag tickets for five matches, including two at the iconic Lord’s. This is going to be the third consecutive time that Rakesh will watch a World Cup match at a stadium.

Jose Benjamin, an assistant professor of criminology, is also looking forward to catch his third World Cup from the stands. “The last match I watched was the India-Afghanistan warm-up match at the Adelaide Oval in 2015,” said Jose. “It was quite frustrating, especially when India was performing well and we wanted to cheer, but the Australians around us were really calm and chilled out, so we had to rein in our reactions,” he said. Jose booked flights in advance and is awaiting the match tickets.

There are several others who are still unsure of whether they will make it for the matches on time. Priyanka Ummat, who handles visa applications from a travel agency in the city said, “I have received 20 applications from people travelling to London for the World Cup this month.” But she is unsure of how many might actually get a visa.

An international snooker referee from Chennai, RB Ganesh felt the heat of WC cricket two weeks ago. He was scheduled to go to London to officiate in a world snooker event on May 15 but had to cancel his ticket as he could not get his visa processed in time. “I applied for the visa on April 21 and had my interview on April 30. The visa did not come till May 15 and I had to reschedule my trip to May 20,” said Ganesh.

Popular MSD fan, Saravanan Hari, who’s yellow painted face is a permanent feature of CSK matches, is among the lucky few from the city to jump on the bandwagon. “It was my dream to be present for the crucial match against Pakistan at Old Trafford on June 16. But, such is the demand for that match that tickets had been sold out much earlier. I will be attending India’s last four games starting from June 27 against WI,” he said.