Defending world champions England will take on New Zealand in a much-awaited clash between the 2019 World Cup finalists that opens the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad, while hosts India will face-off against five-time winners Australia in Chennai on 8 October.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the schedule for the tournament at a ‘Countdown to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023’ event in Mumbai.
The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host important matches between traditional rivals India and Pakistan (15 October) and Australia and England (4 November).
Ten teams feature in what will be the biggest Cricket World Cup ever, to be played across 10 venues from 5 October to 19 November, with Ahmedabad also hosting the tournament opener and the final.
The other nine venues are Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram will join Hyderabad in hosting the practice games.
Eight teams have qualified for the 46-day event through the Cricket World Cup Super League while the final two spots will be taken by the finalists of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier taking place in Zimbabwe.
The tournament retains the round-robin format of last time with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches. There are six day matches which will start at 10h30 Indian Standard Time (IST) while all other matches, including the knockouts, will be day-night fixtures starting at 14h00 IST.
The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, to be played in Mumbai on 15 November and in Kolkata on 16 November. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.
