ICC announces changes in World Cup schedule, India vs Pakistan game shifted to October 14

The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the changes to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 schedule on Wednesday, August 09. The highly anticipated India vs Pakistan game which was scheduled to be played on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad has been shifted a day earlier. The game will now be played on Saturday, October 14 at the same venue.

As a result, England vs Afghanistan fixture which was earlier scheduled to be played on October 14 in Delhi has been shifted to October 15. Furthermore, Pakistan’s clash against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad has been preponed from Thursday, October 12 to Tuesday, October 10.

Notably, there were security concerns for the biggest clash of the World Cup as the match date coincided with the beginning of the Navratri festival which is celebrated with great pomp all across Ahmedabad.

India's last league game against the Netherlands has also been shifted from 11 to 12 November, which will be a day-night clash at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Australia’s game against South Africa in Lucknow will also take place a day earlier on Thursday, 12 October instead of Friday, 13 October.

There have also been a couple of changes made to Bangladesh’s schedule as their day-fixture against New Zealand, originally scheduled for October 14, has been shifted to a day-night affair which will now be held on Friday, 13 October in Chennai.

Furthermore, their game against England in Dharamsala earlier scheduled to be a day-night game on October 10 will now be played as a day game beginning at 10:30 AM.

Towards the end of the league stage, the double-header encounters on Sunday, November 12 namely Australia vs Pakistan in Pune (10:30AM) and England vs Pakistan in Kolkata (02:00PM), have been shifted a day earlier to Saturday, 11 November.

World Cup tickets to be out on August 25

Notably, Kolkata Police had informed regarding their inability to provide security for the England vs Pakistan game with the match coinciding with the festival of Kali Puja. Hence, the match had to be shifted a day earlier.

Meanwhile, the World Cup will get underway on October 05 in Ahmedabad with the final scheduled to be played at the same venue on November 19. The tickets for the mega event to be out on August 25.