Venkatesh Prasad, former India speedster, criticized the BCCI heavily for bungling up the ticketing and scheduling process of the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 which will begin in India on October 5. However, he insisted that his outburst on social media on the issue is in no way a tirade against any individual.
The ICC in consultation with hosts BCCI rescheduled as many as nine games, including the marquee India vs Pakistan match, which was originally scheduled on October 15 in Ahmedabad but had to be advanced by a day on account of Navratri celebrations.
Prasad took to the social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) and posted: “It takes one corrupt, arrogant guy to take away the hardwork of an organisation that is generally non-corrupt and get a stamp of corruption on the whole leadership, not just on micro level but at a large level.”
On Sunday morning he modified the post to say: ”It takes one corrupt, arrogant guy to take away the hardwork of an otherwise non-corrupt organisation and spoil the reputation of an entire organisation & the impact isn’t just micro but at a macro level. This is true in every field, be it politics, sports, journalism, corporate.”
It takes one corrupt, arrogant guy to take away the hardwork of an otherwise non-corrupt organisation and spoil the reputation of an entire organisation & the impact isn’t just micro but at a macro level. This is true in every field, be it politics,sports, journalistm, corporate.
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) September 10, 2023
While he did not mention any name, there were conjectures on social media on who could have been Prasad’s target of ire.
“Nothing Personal, Just Observation,” Venkatesh Prasad
After his post on X gained massive traction, Venkatesh Prasad clarified that he was jut observing how BCCI messed up the process which was quite simple and he didn’t make any personal remarks.
“Nothing personal, just observation. 100 percent (if asked he was misinterpreted). That (corrupt) I meant generally in all aspects of life. Be it airline industry, banking industry, even IPL franchises have been banned as well. Since in my other tweets, I had tweeted about tickets, it looked mixed up. My criticism for BCCI was clear about the ticketing and scheduling,” he said to PTI.
For him, he was only pointing at what everyone is talking about the organizational part. He added that while he acknowledged BCCI’s good work, he didn’t want to turn a blind eye on aspects which left a lot to be desired.
“Nothing personal. Just a clear observation and many people have expressed displeasure at the way ticketing is, fans as well as friends from overseas. There are many things which the BCCI is doing right like equal pay for men and women but I truly believe they haven’t handled the World Cup ticketing and schedule well and this has brought a lot of inconvenience and heartbreak for genuine fans,” Prasad added.