The International Cricket Council (ICC) finally announced the schedule for the World Cup 2023 to be held in India in October-November with the finalists of the 2019 edition England and New Zealand taking on each other in the tournament opener in Ahmedabad on Thursday, October 5. The hosts India will be up against the five-time champions Australia on October 8 in their first encounter in Chennai while the high-octane clash against arch-rivals Pakistan will be on Sunday, October 15 at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.
All 10 teams will play each other once in a round-robin format. Four out of 10 teams will advance to the knockout stage with the semi-finals set to take place on November 15 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium and on November 16 at Kolkata's Eden Gardens. The World Cup final will take place on Sunday, November 19 as the new champions will be crowned at the biggest stadium in the world in Ahmedabad.
The World Cup schedule announcement saw several delays. While the schedules for World Cups 2019 and 2015 were announced one year in advance, the one for the 2023 edition of the marquee event saw multiple delays due to venue availability, expected inclement weather in a few cities in October-November and Pakistan's late nod to play in India after several to-and-fro following BCCI's refusal to travel to the neighboring country for Asia Cup.
10 venues have been finalised for the tournament with the matches to take place in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. The hosts India will play each of their 9 games at different venues with Hyderabad missing out on hosting the Men in Blue. Mohali which hosted the World Cup 2011 semi-final between India and Pakistan has missed out on hosting any games this time around.
While Chennai and Ahmedabad host the big matches against Australia and Pakistan, respectively, Lucknow will see the defending champions take on India, South Africa in Kolkata and New Zealand in Dharamsala, the venue which will be hosting the World Cup for the first time.
This is the fourth time that India is host to the Men's ODI World Cup but for the first time, the whole tournament will take place in the host nation.
It will be the last World Cup for several Indian stars including captain Rohit Sharma, who is yet to win a 50-over World Cup title and will be eager to finish on a high.
