World Cup 2023 schedule was announced on June 27 by ICC and BCCI with the tournament set to start exactly after 100 days. As many as 10 cities have been selected to host the mega event with a total of 48 matches set to take place over the course of 46 days. However, unlike 2011 World Cup, Mohali missed out on being allocated a single game of the tournament this time around.
IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali had hosted three matches 12 years ago in 2011 when India had co-hosted the World Cup with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Moreover, the marquee clash between India and Pakistan which was also the semi-final of the tournament was played in Mohali. With the venue not getting a match this time around, Punjab Sports Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer has condemned the schedule.
He claimed that Mohali not getting to host World Cup matches this year is due to politics and will raise the issue with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). "The exclusion of Punjab's Mohali from the list of host cities for the tournament was due to political interference. Punjab government will raise this issue with BCCI," he said according to the video posted by ANI.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad is another venue that will be hosted three matches of the upcoming World Cup in India but none of the host team. The venue will see Pakistan playing against two qualifier teams and New Zealand facing one of the qualifier teams with the matches taking place on October 6, 9 and 12.
