The 2023 ODI
World Cup will begin on October 5 in Ahmedabad, and matches will be held
across ten venues, and culminate in the final - also in Ahmedabad - on November
19. The semi-finals will be held in Mumbai and Kolkata on November 15 and 16.
The 45 league
matches and the three knockouts will be played in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru,
Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune over a
span of 46 days. The two semi-finals and the final will all have reserve days.
There are six day league matches in the tournament, which will start at 10:30
am IST. All other matches will be day-night games starting at 2:00 pm IST.
The ICC has confirmed that if India qualify for the
semi-finals, that game will be held in Mumbai, unless their opposition is
Pakistan, in which case the game will be played in Kolkata.
The long-awaited, and much-delayed, World Cup schedule was
finally released by the ICC and BCCI at an event in Mumbai on Tuesday, just 100
days before the start of the tournament. In comparison, the fixtures for the
2019 World Cup in England and Wales and the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New
Zealand were released more than 12 months in advance.
The format will be the same as it was in 2019, with ten
teams playing each other once in the league phase and the top four qualifying
for the semi-finals. India qualified for the event as hosts, while Afghanistan,
Australia, England, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa made it
by finishing in the top eight of the 2020-2023 World Cup Super League. The
remaining two teams will be identified at the ongoing World Cup qualifiers in
Zimbabwe, which is being contested by Sri Lanka, West Indies, Ireland, Nepal,
Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, UAE, USA and Zimbabwe.
India to play at nine of the ten venues in league stage,
Pakistan in five
The 2023 World Cup begins with a rematch between the 2019
finalists - New Zealand taking on England - while hosts India open
their campaign against Australia on October 8 in Chennai.
India then play Afghanistan in Delhi on October 11; Pakistan
in Ahmedabad on October 15; Bangladesh in Pune on October 19; New Zealand in
Dharamsala on October 22; England in Lucknow on October 29; a qualifier in
Mumbai on November 2; South Africa in Kolkata on November 5; and another
qualifier in Bengaluru on November 11, which is the penultimate day of the
league stage. India travel the most among the ten teams, playing at nine of the
ten venues during the league phase.
While most other teams play their nine league matches across
most of the ten venues - Australia, for example, are playing at eight
venues - Pakistan are playing in only five cities: Hyderabad,
Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. The league phase concludes on
November 12, with England playing Pakistan in Kolkata and Australia taking on
Bangladesh in Pune.
After the
tournament opener against England, New Zealand play three matches in the south
of India - against a qualifier in Hyderabad on October 9, Bangladesh in Chennai
on October 14, and Afghanistan in Chennai on October 18 - before travelling far
north to play two matches in Dharamsala, against India on October 22 and
Australia on October 28. Their last three league matches are against South
Africa in Pune on November 1; Pakistan in Bengaluru on November 4; and the
other qualifier in Bengaluru on November 9.
South Africa begin
their campaign in the north of India, playing a qualifier in Delhi on October
8, and then play Australia in Lucknow on October 13, and the other qualifier in
Dharamsala on October 17. They then travel west to Mumbai to play England on
October 21 and Bangladesh on October 24, after which they head south to take on
Pakistan in Chennai on October 27. Their last three league games are against
New Zealand in Pune (western India) on November 1, against India in Kolkata
(eastern India) on November 5, and against Afghanistan in Ahmedabad (western
India) on November 10.
Bangladesh's World
Cup starts with two games in Dharamsala - against Afghanistan on October 7 and
England on October 10. They then play New Zealand in Bangalore on October 14,
India in Pune on October 19, South Africa in Mumbai on October 24, before
heading east to Kolkata to play a qualifier on October 28 and Pakistan on
October 31. Their last two league games are against the other qualifier in
Delhi on November 6, and against Australia in Pune on November 12.
At their third
successive World Cup, Afghanistan start against Bangladesh in Dharamsala on
October 7, and stay on it north India to play India and England in Delhi on
October 11 and 14, then go south to play New Zealand and Pakistan in Chennai on
October 18 and 23, before travelling to Pune to play a qualifier on October 30.
Their last three league games are against the other qualifier in Lucknow on
November 3, Australia in Mumbai on November 7 and South Africa in Ahmedabad on
November 10.
Before the tournament
begins, the teams will play warm-ups in Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and
Guwahati between September 29 and October 3.