The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the schedule for the 2023 ODI World Cup to be held in India. The tournament starts on October 5 with the 2019 finalists, England and New Zealand, taking each other on at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
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Team India will begin its campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai and play a highly anticipated clash with Pakistan on October 15 at the Narendra Modi stadium, which is the world’s largest cricket stadium, with a seating capacity of 1,32,000 spectators — 32,000 more than the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
The match between India and Pakistan will be the eighth meeting between the two in an ODI World Cup. India have won all of the previous seven encounters.
The last time the teams met in the 50-overs World Cup was in 2019 at Old Trafford when India beat Pakistan by 89 runs (DLS method).
Pakistan had earlier asked for their match against India to be shifted to either Chennai, Bengaluru or Kolkata, but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the ICC rejected the offer.
With 10 teams participating, each team plays the other nine in a round-robin format with the top four qualifying for the knockout stage and semifinals. The final group stage match will be England against Pakistan in Kolkata on November 12.
Semifinals in Kolkata and Mumbai
The first semifinal will be held on Wednesday, November 15, in Mumbai, and the second semifinal will be held on the following day in Kolkata. Both semifinals will have a reserve day.
The Final will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19, with November 20 slated as the reserve day.
Teams participating
There will be 10 teams at this year’s World Cup. As hosts, India have qualified directly, as have Afghanistan, Australia, England, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa through the 2020-2023 ICC Cricket World Cup Super League.
Two other teams will make it to the World Cup through the World Cup Qualifiers, which is being currently played in Zimbabwe.
Apart from former champions Sri Lanka and the West Indies, the Qualifiers also feature Ireland, Nepal, the Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, the UAE, the USA, and hosts Zimbabwe.
Venues
With Guwahati among 12 venues picked to host the matches including warm-up games, it’s the first time the World Cup is entering the northeast India.
There will be a total of 10 venues — Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata — hosting the matches during the tournament proper.
Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram in addition to Hyderabad will host the warm-up games from September 29 to October 3.
See the full fixtures here.
(With inputs from PTI)
