India and Pakistan will play in the ODI World Cup in Ahmedabad, a city known for its huge stadium with seating for over 100,000. An exciting encounter is scheduled for October 15, marking an important highlight of the tournament. Ahmedabad will also host the tournament opener between England and New Zealand on October 5. In the previous World Cup, these two teams had played an exhilarating tie final. On the other hand, India will face Australia in Chennai just three days later. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) meticulously prepared the preliminary draft schedule for the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup, which includes these exciting matches.
BCCI has shared the draft version of the schedule with the International Cricket Council (ICC) for review. Early next week, the final schedule will be released based on feedback from the participating countries.
Despite the draft schedule not revealing the venue for the semi-finals, it is expected that these matches will be played on November 15 and 16. Ahmedabad will host the grand finale on November 19, the same city where the tournament began.
In the draft version, India is scheduled to play nine ODI World Cup 2023 matches across nine venues. Indian teams will play various matchups, including:
- India vs Australia in Chennai (October 8)
- India vs Pakistan in Ahmedabad (October 15)
- India vs Afghanistan in Bengaluru (October 19)
- India vs South Africa in Chennai (October 23)
- India vs Bangladesh in Kolkata (October 27)
- India vs New Zealand in Bengaluru (November 1, day match)
- India vs England in Kolkata (November 8)
Pakistan, meanwhile, will play five matches in the league phase across five venues. On October 6 and 12, Pakistan will also face the two teams advancing from the Qualifier in Hyderabad. Additionally, Australia will play in Bengaluru (October 20), Afghanistan (October 23) and South Africa (October 27) in Chennai, Bangladesh in Kolkata (October 31), New Zealand in Bengaluru (November 5, day match), and England in Kolkata (November 12), the final match of the league phase.
The draft schedule also includes Australia vs New Zealand in Dharamsala on October 29, Australia vs England in Ahmedabad on November 4, and New Zealand vs South Africa in Pune on November 1.
This announcement of fixtures is unusual considering that the World Cup is only four months away. Previous tournament editions, which took place in 2015 and 2019, had their schedules finalized over a year in advance.
Jay Shah, BCCI secretary, mentioned that the schedule would be released during the World Test Championship final. The reason for the delay, however, was not revealed. ICC CEO Geoff Allardice assured BBC’s Test Match Special that the schedule would be released “anytime soon” but did not specify an exact date.
Since the schedule hasn’t been released yet, the ICC hasn’t been able to provide ticketing information.
