The highly anticipated ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is set to kick off with New Zealand taking on defending champions England in the tournament’s opening match at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5th. The competition will conclude on November 19th, featuring warm-up matches before the main event. Practice matches will commence on September 29th and conclude on October 3rd, 2023.
Prior to the main tournament, teams will engage in practice games. India’s first practice match is against England on September 30th at Basapara Stadium in Guwahati, followed by a match against the Netherlands on October 3rd at Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
The warm-up matches will be played across three venues: Hyderabad, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram. These matches won’t carry official status, and teams will field their full squads of 15 members. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia, and the Netherlands will each play two practice matches ahead of the main tournament.
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Here’s the schedule of the warm-up matches:
29th September:
- Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka at Basapara Stadium, Guwahati (2:00 PM)
- South Africa vs Afghanistan at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram (2:00 PM)
- New Zealand vs Pakistan at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad (2:00 PM)
30th September:
- India vs England at Basapara Stadium, Guwahati (2:00 PM)
- Australia vs Netherlands at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram (2:00 PM)
2nd October:
- England vs Bangladesh at Basapara Stadium, Guwahati (2:00 PM)
- New Zealand vs South Africa at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram (2:00 PM)
3rd October:
- Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka at Basapara Stadium, Guwahati (2:00 PM)
- India vs Netherlands at Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram (2:00 PM)
- Pakistan vs Australia at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad (2:00 PM)
The main round of the 2023 World Cup will take place across 10 venues in the country, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Dharamshala, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru. A total of 10 teams, including India, South Africa, New Zealand, England, Australia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, have directly qualified for the tournament. Sri Lanka and the Netherlands secured their spots by finishing in the top two positions in the ICC World Cup qualifiers held in Zimbabwe this year.