Former England captain Michael Vaughan and hundreds of fans on social media expressed their displeasure over the empty stadiums at the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 in India.
Four matches have taken place in the World Cup since October 5 in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad Dharamsala and Delhi with hardly any spectators coming to watch the games in the stadiums.
The opening clash between England and New Zealand witnessed empty stands at the Narendra Modi Stadium in the first half but the crowds started to pour in towards the evening when the temperatures dropped in the city.
Empty stands were again visible at the HPCA stadium in Dharamsala, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad and the Arun Jaitley stadium in Delhi.
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Reasons behind empty stands
The weather is playing a big part in this matter as high temperatures during the after noon are keeping fans away from coming to the stadiums to watch the matches. The lack of overheard covering for fans in the stands has added to the problems.
The BCCI even made mineral and packaged drinking water free across all the World Cup stadiums in the country due to the high temperatures, but that has hardly made any difference.
BCCI's delay added to the problem
A delay in releasing tickets for the games by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also contributed majorly towards this issue. High prices of tickets was another issue highlighted by the fans before the tournament started.
The delay and constant schedule changes before the World Cup also made it difficult for overseas fans to book their accommodations and finalise their travel plans in India.
Former England skipper Vaughan took to X to highlight the poor attendance at the non-India matches in the World Cup and batted for the distribution of free tickets to fill up the stands during the tournament.
"Crowds are looking very poor at the World Cup .. Surely we should be giving tickets away to make sure the stands are full," Vaughan tweeted.
