cricket fans
How long will the fans keep on waiting for the ICC World T20 2016 tickets sale?IANS

Cricket fans around the world have no other option than to sit idle and wait for that one announcement that can finally make them feel a bit content. The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) are no doubt testing the patience of the fans ahead of the ICC World T20 2016 and they are also receiving hatred for it.

The ICC mega-event is scheduled to get under way from March 8, but as of now, nobody knows how exactly the tickets can be bought for the matches. 

From Feb. 9 to Feb. 13, the dates kept popping up from the Indian cricket board as to when the tickets would finally go on sale, but so far, no tickets have been made available. According to a report published in The Indian Express, the ICC World T20 2016 tickets that were scheduled to go on sale from Feb. 13 was further postponed to Feb. 21.

However, now even that date is not confirmed.

"This is not a usual delay, this is an alarming delay," a BCCI source spoke to the Indian newspaper. "Fans, operators and sponsors call us daily but we tell them that it will get sorted out soon. Many of our officials have been receiving hate mails from fans across India and abroad."

The first announcement from the BCCI regarding the postponement of the sale of tickets came after a cloud hovered over the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi hosting its scheduled matches of the ICC World T20 2016. The Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA), however, finally got the green signal to host the matches after they received an NOC from the civic agencies Feb. 11.

The national capital will thus host the matches. But what about the fate of the tickets?

"To start the sale of tickets isn't a simple switch-on process. It takes time. We need to fix pricing, pay entertainment tax, get clearances. All this takes time. This is unprecedented and it's all because of Delhi," the source further added.

Fans on social media are putting forward numerous queries to online ticket booking portal BookMyShow, who is the official ticket partner for the ICC World T20 2016. When International Business Times, India got in touch with the ticket staff on the issue Saturday, they mentioned that they themselves are in the dark about the tickets sale for the cricket tournament.

International fans need to book hotels and get their travel tickets in advance, but the BCCI is yet to make an official statement on the sale of tickets.