Ticket shortage, sold-out stands grip India vs South Africa Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 final

As the Women in Blue ran on to the pitch after India closed out a historic chase against Australia to seal a third appearance in the summit clash of the Women’s ODI World Cup, another rat race ensued online – a dash to secure tickets.

Passes for the final, priced at INR 150 initially, were made available a week ago, with fans seemingly waiting to see if India made it before taking the plunge to spend eight hours on a Sunday at the D.Y. Patil Stadium here. 

The ICC confirmed that all stands will be opened for the deciding fixture of the 50-over showpiece, an encouraging departure from most league games, where only a select number of stands were open to fans.

A popular venue in the women’s ecosystem in India, having hosted bilateral fixtures against Australia and England and the Women’s Premier League, the stadium is the only privately-owned venue in the tournament’s roster this edition.

Its reputation as a premier stage for a match like the final was reflected in the 35,000+ crowd that turned up for the semifinal against Australia, bearing witness to a famous victory. 

However, on  BookMyShow – the official ticketing partner of the tournament – only select stands were available to choose from for the big finale.

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After the semifinal, the option to purchase passes from the platform was soon disabled with a prompt saying ‘Coming Soon’. Meanwhile, the rabid reselling of tickets emerged on social media and on secondary marketplaces like Viagogo. 

On the latter, tickets were available for upwards of INR 4500, nearly 30 times the original cost. The same stands by evening on the eve of the final shot up to INR 13,000. 

VIP seating had one ticket left for sale on Saturday morning, priced at a whopping INR 1,06,959. This was sold out by the end of the day. 

Around noon,  BookMyShow’s information on the listing changed to ‘event closed’ without the portal being open for the purchase of tickets at any point during the 30-odd hours before closure. 

Walking into the D.Y. Patil Stadium on Saturday meant one would have seen a heightened police presence – understandable with the Indian team training within the university presence during the afternoon.

Fans could be seen pressed against the outer gates, all flooding there from waiting in a long queue for tickets to catch a glimpse of Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues or captain Harmanpreet Kaur as the team bus pulled into the venue.

Most returned empty-handed, with D.Y. Patil Stadium authorities confirming the fixture was sold out.  BookMyShow then responded via a comment on X, saying, “Due to the overwhelming response, tickets were sold out in no time.” Fans who had spent hours refreshing the portal were left disappointed. 

Players have naturally not been immune to ticket demands. Harmanpreet saw the lighter side of the situation as she addressed reporters ahead of the fixture. 

“You know how it is for tickets (in India). Days when small things like this bring pressure are very rare. Very happy that the pressure is there for cricket and tickets too!” she quipped.

“People often comment about a supposed inferiority in standards of the women’s game but no one wants to miss out on the chance to have an ‘I was there’ moment should India lift that trophy. There are very few who wouldn’t want that photo or video,” a management student from D.Y. Patil University, who wished to remain anonymous, told  Sportstar. 

The struggle for passes is not new for a major tournament hosted in India. The 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup was panned for similar issues in ticketing and rampant sales on the black market. Cases were filed and complaints were raised across multiple venues.  

Meanwhile, fans in Mumbai also contended with the routine mega block – a scheduled disruption in service for the Mumbai local when sections of lines undergo essential maintenance, repair, or upgrade. 

Among the listed routes were the Central Line (CMST Mumbai to Vidyavihar), Harbour Line (Kurla-Vashi), and the Western Line (Churchgate to Mumbai Central), with blocks going from 10-11 am to 3-4 pm. This was eventually called off to facilitate easier movement of fans to and from the stadium in Nerul. 

Published on Nov 01, 2025