India to play Pakistan on October 14 now; tickets to go on sale on August 25, 41 days before the first match
MUMBAI: Even before a ball has been bowled, the upcoming ODI World Cup in India in October-November is achieving some dubious firsts, thanks to unprecedented inefficiency on the part of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and BCCI, the hosts of the tournament. This World Cup is also now set to go down in history as the one which has slipped into a right royal mess, thanks to the confused and directionless approach of the organizers.
After a much-delayed unveiling of the schedule of its blue riband event on June 27 amidst huge fanfare, the ICC announced on Wednesday that it was rescheduling as many as nine matches, including the biggest match of the tournament-India versus Pakistan.
The match, which was originally slated for October 15 in Ahmedabad, has been advanced by a day, as local police cited difficulties in arranging for security due to the Navratri festival that begins on October 15. Even the start times of a few matches have been changed.
"Such a large-scale change of dates underlines that the World Cup scheduling committee had seriously erred in planning. One can only hope that the other aspects of the organization are more efficient.-TIMESVIEW"
The last-minute changes to the schedule have been made even as the game's showpiece event is now less than a couple of months away-the tournament kicks off on October 5 (as of now).
In comparison, the schedules for the last two tournaments in Australia and New Zealand (2015) and England and Wales (2019) were out more than a year in advance.
Tickets to be sold in seven phases.
The ICC also announced that tickets of the 2023 ODI World Cup will go on sale from August 25 in seven phases-just 41 days before the first match-making it a nightmare for the fans, who will have to scamper for tickets at the last minute. All non-India match tickets will be on sale from August 25.
"Ahead of tickets going on sale, fans will have the opportunity to register their interest via https://www.cricketworldcup.com/register from August 15. This will enable them to receive ticket news first and help secure their spot at the World Cup, and experience the joy of cricket in one day," the ICC said in statement.
Pakistan, England, Bangladesh most affected in rejig
Pakistan, Bangladesh, and England are the most affected teams because of this rejig, as the dates for three of their matches have been changed by a day (in England's case the start time has been changed too). As expected, with the India-Pakistan game now on October 14, Pakistan's match against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad has been advanced from October 12 to October 10, to give them a sufficient gap leading into the match against India.
The Australia-South Africa match in Lucknow has also been brought forward by a day and will take place on October 12 instead of October 13. The England-Afghanistan game in Delhi, which was originally scheduled for October 14, will be played on October 15.
New Zealand's match against Bangladesh in Chennai has been changed from a day game on October 14 to a day-night fixture on October 13. The England-Bangladesh game in Dharamsala remains on October 10, but it will now be a day game and not a day-night battle.
Following concerns raised by the Kolkata police to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) about holding the Pakistan versus England match at the Eden Gardens on the same day as the festival of Kali Puja, the date of that match has been brought forward from November 12 to Nov 11. In fact, the entire double-header scheduled for that day - Australia vs Bangladesh in Pune being the other game -will now be played on November 11.
Ironically, after so much of rescheduling, the organisers have still left scope for a rejig-the last game of the league stage- the India versus Netherlands contest in Bengaluru, has been pushed back from November 11 to Nov 12-which is Diwali.
