Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan play sub-continental rivals India in Ahmedabad on 15 October and Bangladesh in Kolkata on October 31, as per the schedule of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 announced in Mumbai on Tuesday. Pakistan begin their campaign in Hyderabad against the two qualifiers while they play defending champions England in their last league match on November 12. The tournament runs from October 5 to November 19. Ten teams feature in what will be the biggest Cricket World Cup ever, across 10 venues, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the tournament opener and the final. The other venues are Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram 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 in the tournament, which will start at 10h30 local time. All other matches, including the knockouts, will be day-night fixtures starting at 14h00. The top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals to be played in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said their team would require clearance from Islamabad to play. “We are liaising with our government for guidance,” PCB Communications Director Samiul Hasan said. “This position is consistent to what we had told the ICC a couple of weeks ago when they shared with us the draft schedule and sought our feedback,” he said. India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries and only play cricket against each other in international tournaments, usually at neutral venues, due to longstanding political tensions, most recently during the T20 World Cup in Australia last year. Any match between the South Asian neighbours, therefore, becomes one of the most-watched events on the global sporting calendar, and any victory is used to promote nationalism at home. When they do play, cricket fans around the world are glued to their TV screens in a multi-billion-dollar bonanza for broadcasters.

The 2019 50-over World Cup clash between India and Pakistan drew 273 million viewers. India and Pakistan have not met on either side’s soil in a bilateral series since 2012. They have also not played a Test against each other since 2007, instead meeting only in the shorter versions of the game. This year’s World Cup will mark Pakistan’s first cricket trip to India since the T20 World Cup in 2016. India last won the ODI World Cup on home soil in 2011. Since then, Australia and England have won the title in their own backyards in 2015 and 2019 respectively.

Pakistan’s fixtures at World Cup (day-night matches unless indicated otherwise):

October 6- vs Qualifier 1, Hyderabad

October 12- vs Qualifier 2, Hyderabad

October 15- vs India, Ahmedabad

October 20 – vs Australia, Bengaluru

October 23- vs Afghanistan, Chennai

October 27- vs South Africa, Chennai

October 31- vs Bangladesh, Kolkata

November 4- vs New Zealand, Bengaluru (day match)

November 12- vs England, Kolkata.