Ahmedabad set to host World Cup 2023 opening ceremony on October 4; venue still undecided: Report

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is set to kick off with a grand opening ceremony in Ahmedabad, where the tournament opener will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium on October 5. The special event, scheduled to take place on Wednesday, October 4 will take place in the same city, however, it is undecided whether it will take place at the same venue as the tournament opener between the defending champions England and New Zealand.

As per a Cricbuzz report, the opening ceremony will be a brief yet grand event where all 10 captains will be present along with the members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the members of the executive board of the global cricket governing body, and representatives of the host cricket body, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The event is mainly set to be 'Captains Day' where the focus will be on the 10 captains where there will be a briefing session for all of them, a grand photoshoot is planned like every ICC event and all of it will culminate with a cultural event.

Six of the 10 teams will be involved in warm-up games on the eve of the ceremony as India will take on the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka will be playing a game in Guwahati and Australia will be up against Pakistan in Hyderabad. All 10 captains will be present in Ahmedabad for the signing event, before all of it begins with the repeat of the 2019 final on Thursday, October 5.

Ahmedabad is set to host four marquee games out of five, including the tournament opener, the two rivalry games - India-Pakistan, Australia-England the the big finale apart from the South Africa-Afghanistan game. The tournament will begin and end at the same venue, with the final scheduled for November 19.