The 100,000-seater Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad will host the India-Pakistan match on October 15 in the ODI World Cup later in 2023, according to the initial draft schedule prepared by the BCCI. The 2019 finalists, England and New Zealand, will kickstart the tournament in the same venue on October 5, while India will kickstarts theirs against Australia in Chennai on October 8.
Cricinfo reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has shared an initial draft schedule with the ICC, who will then send it to the participating countries for feedback before finalising the schedule later in June.
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While the draft schedule does not detail the venues for the semifinals, pegged for November 15 and 16, the final, scheduled for November 19, is confirmed for the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
India's schedule
India will play their games in nine venues, with the their final game being played in Bengaluru on November 11:
Ind vs Australia: October 8, Chennai
Ind vs Afghanistan: October 11, Delhi
Ind vs Pakistan: October 15, Ahmedabad
Ind vs Bangladesh: October 19, Pune
Ind vs NZ: October 22, Dharamsala
Ind vs England: October 29, Lucknow
Ind vs qualifier: November 2, Mumbai
Ind vs South Africa: November 5, Kolkata
Ind vs qualifier: November 11, Bengaluru
Meanwhile, Pakistan will play its league matches in 5 cities:
Pakistan vs qualifier: Oct 6, Hyderabad
Pakistan vs qualifier: Oct 12, Hyderabad
Pakistan vs India: Oct 15, Ahmedabad
Pakistan vs Australia: Oct 20, Bengaluru
Pakistan vs Afghanistan: Oct 23, Chennai
Pakistan vs South Africa: Oct 27, Chennai
Pakistan vs Bangladesh: Oct 31, Kolkata
Pakistan vs New Zealand: November 5 (day match), Bengaluru
Pakistan vs England: November 12, Kolkata
Other big games
Some of the other marquee matches in the draft schedule include 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.
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Schedule delay
Despite the tournament just around 4 months away, the ICC has not yet confirmed the schedule for the ODI World Cup. The 2015 and 2019 editions had their schedules finalised more than a year in advance.
On May 27, Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, had said the schedule would be out during the World Test Championship final. He did not provide the reason behind the delay, though. On the first day of the WTC final, speaking on BBC's Test Match Special, ICC CEO Geoff Allardice said the schedule would be out anytime soon', without specifying further details.
The delay in the schedule has also not allowed the ICC to put out ticketing details even as fans from overseas have grown desperate to make travel arrangements.
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