Australia will take on South Africa in the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final from June 11-15 at The Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. India failed to qualify for a third straight WTC final after going down 1-3 against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year. While The Lord’s is set to host the final for the first-time, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) could lose upto 4 million pounds (Rs 45.08 crore approx) in revenue due to India’s absence from the summit clash.
According to a report in The Times, MCC had originally priced tickets at premium rates, confident over India’s participation.
“Organisers had originally priced tickets at a premium rate, believing India fan demand would outstrip supply, but the absence of India has significantly curtailed the financial windfall expected by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), underscoring the financial influence of Indian cricket across the global game,” the report claimed.
MCC has now lowered the ticket prices by around 50 pounds (Rs 5633 approx.) per ticket in order to fill the seats at the venue, instead of scattered crowd.
“Anticipating India’s participation, Lord’s had originally priced tickets at premium rates, confident that the demand from Indian cricket supporters would outstrip supply. However, once it became clear that India would not feature in the final, MCC opted to lower ticket prices. The decision intended to prioritise a fuller, more vibrant stadium over the prospect of a sparsely populated ground with higher-priced seats,” the report added.
“The decision to be flexible with prices for the World Test Championship final was taken this year, with tickets now being sold at between 40 and 90 pounds, about 50 cheaper than they had originally been priced, accounting for the loss in revenue,” the report further stated.
The Lord’s will also host a Test between India and England in July this year, and the tickets for the first four days have already been sold out.
India were on track to reach the WTC final, before back-to-back series defeats derailed their path.
The Rohit Sharma-led side suffered a shock 0-3 defeat at home to New Zealand. It was their first Test series loss at home since 2012-13 when England beat MS Dhoni-led India 2-1.
To make things even worse, India were outplayed by Australia (1-3) in a five match Test series Down Under.
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