RF at Lord’s!

By Rohit Mahajan

London, July 13

Roger Federer at Lord’s?! Yes, but it was only a cap worn by a mediaperson, with the famous RF logo — red and white. With India being knocked out of the tournament, a little bit of World Cup has died for Indian fans. Federer beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon yesterday. Novak Djokovic won, too, while Serena Williams lost to Simona Halep in the women’s singles final today. The visiting Indian fans and media were keen for a bit of tennis at Wimbledon, but the ticket prices tend to skyrocket towards the end of the second week. They got prohibitively high for yesterday’s — the resale value of some tickets was in the £7,000-£13,000 range of prohibition. These tickets, incidentally, were priced at £185 when sold through a a public ballot! For most Indian fans, seeing Federer-Nadal at Wimbledon remained a dream.

Neesham appeal to Indians

James Neesham, the New Zealand allrounder who took India’s last wicket in their semifinal match, has spoken for the working class — he’s requested the Indian fans who are selling tickets for the final to not opt for profiteering. “Dear Indian cricket fans. If you don’t want to come to the final anymore then please be kind and resell your tickets via the official platform,” he wrote on the social media. “I know it’s tempting to try to make a large profit but please give all genuine cricket fans a chance to go, not just the wealthy. I mean, I can see why people would want to make a couple of quid and that’s fine, but the asking price of some I’ve seen is absolutely ludicrous.” The ludicrous prices he referred to were selling at up to £2,080 on one British website; on another website, the tickets for the Grand Stand were listed at £7,897 and — hold your breath — at £16,584 for the Compton Stand.

The ICC, incidentally, has warned prospective buyers that tickets bought at unofficial platforms could be cancelled.