Lukewarm response for world Cup tickets in India

New Delhi, July 30 (UNI) The passion for the game notwithstanding, India's has been a lukewarm response to next year's World Cup in the West Indies with the country recording the seventh-highest number of application, poor by any standard.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 CEO Chris Dehring, who was in the capital to unveil the logo and mascot of the event, invited the Indians to travel to the West Indies and asked them to get in the queue to ensure their passage to the Caribbean.

''We want to make sure that the Indian public is fully informed and excited about the event. We also wish to encourage as many Indian fans as possible to travel to the Caribbean for the best World Cup ever,'' he said.

According to information, at the end of June, the organisers received applications from 114 countries with the UK USA, Barbados, Australia, Trinidad &Tobago, Jamaica, India, Canada, south africa and Guyana forming the top 10.

Mr Dehring urged the Indian fans to take advantage of the last few days before the ticket application closes tomorrow. This would be the first phase of the ticketing process.

He also claimed to have received more than 1000 applications for Follow-A-Path packages from the Indian fans. This is most by fans of any of the 16 participating countries for such a package whilch allows the fans to follow a particular team from Group Stage matches up to the final.

UNI