ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: Schedule, Venues, and Key Matches

Finally, the much-awaited schedule of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is out. On Tuesday, the BCCI and ICC released the ODI World Cup schedule at an event organised in Mumbai.

The BCCI will be hosting the ODI World Cup for the fourth time in India, with previous editions held in 1987, 1996, and 2011.

The 2023 Cricket World Cup will kick off on October 5, with 2019 Champions England taking on New Zealand in Ahmedabad. Moreover, the final of the tournament will also take place in Ahmedabad on November 19.

A total of ten teams will be participating in the mega event of cricket. Eight teams — India (host), Afghanistan, Australia, England, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa — have already qualified for the event. While the remaining two teams — Sri Lanka and the Netherlands — qualified for the tournament after finishing in the top 2 in the World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe.

Cricket World Cup 2023 Format

The format of the 2023 ODI World Cup is similar to the 2019 edition. The ten teams will play against each other once in the league stage, with the top four advancing to the semi-finals.

Venues for the 2023 Cricket World Cup

A total of 48 matches will take place in the ODI World Cup 2023 over a span of 46 days across ten venues.

The ten Cricket World Cup 2023 venues are — Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Pune.

Except for Hyderabad, all nine venues will host India’s matches. Also, Hyderabad will host three matches, while the other nine stadiums will host five matches each.

Besides, Mumbai and Kolkata will host semi-final 1 and semi-final 2, respectively.

Further, warm-up matches will take place in Guwahati, Hyderabad, and Thiruvananthapuram from September 26 to October 3.

Cricket World Cup 2023 Schedule

Key Matches

In the Cricket World Cup 2023, fans will get to witness some thrilling matches. India will kick off their World Cup campaign against Australia in Chennai. The Aussies will take on South Africa in Lucknow to take revenge of their 2019 World Cup loss.

October 15 will be Super Sunday, as arch-rivals India and Pakistan will play against each other in Ahmedabad. In their last World Cup clash, India defeated Pakistan with a huge victory.

Pakistan will later square off against Australia at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Pakistan’s next match against Afghanistan will be interesting as they play on a spin-friendly track in Chennai.

Dharamsala will host the clash between India and New Zealand, where the hosts will try to avenge their 2019 semi-final loss. Later, the Kiwis will meet their Trans-Tasman rivals, Australia, at the same venue.

On October 29, India will play against the defending champions, England, in Lucknow. The Englishmen will then square off against their arch-rivals, Australia, on November 4 in Ahmedabad.

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