The Goods and Services Tax (GST), which was rolled out at the stroke of the midnight hour on June 30 this year, will affect cricket also, as the fans now have to shell out more to watch their favourite stars fighting it out on the ground.
The prices of the tickets for the One-Day match between India and Australia, to be held at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens next month, will be costlier, as 28 percent GST has been imposed as per government’s regulation.
Consequently, the minimum price of the ticket was increased from Rs. 500 to Rs. 650 after applying 28 percent GST. Likewise, other tickets would cost Rs. 1300 and Rs. 1900, up from Rs 1000 and Rs. 1500, respectively. The decision was taken at the Cricket Association of Bengal’s (CAB) working committee meeting on Saturday (August 19).
“Ticket prices have remained the same, just the GST has been added,” CAB president and former India captain Sourav Ganguly confirmed.
The iconic stadium, meanwhile, will hosts one of the five ODIs between India and Australia. The schedule hasn’t been announced yet, but the tentative date for the match at the Eden Gardens is September 21. The Eden Gardens will also host a Test during Sri Lanka’s tour to India in November. However, the tickets for Test cricket have managed to evade the effects of GST.
“Test tickets are sold on a daily basis. It’s Rs. 100 tickets, so there’s no GST,” said Ganguly.
Ganguly, who had led India to World Cup final in 2003, further said that Australia would find it tough to beat India at home. The last time the reigning world champions visited India for an ODI series, they had given the Men in Blue a run for their money before going down 3-2.
Earlier this year, during the Test series too, Steve Smith & Co. had given India a hard time, but the hosts had managed to win the series.
“It would not be easy to beat India,” said Ganguly.