SHIVAM GUPTA
The 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially announced that the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will be held in India, one of the sport’s spiritual homes. The tournament is scheduled to take place from October 5 to November 19, 2023, and it’s the 13th edition of this prestigious One Day International (ODI) cricket competition.
Host Locations
Ten venues across India have been selected to host the 48 matches that will make up this cricketing extravaganza. These venues are as follows:
- Chennai
- Delhi
- Ahmedabad
- Pune
- Dharamsala
- Lucknow
- Mumbai
- Kolkata
- Bengaluru
- Ahmedabad (Yes, another one!)
The Tournament Format
In the ICC World Cup 2023, ten teams will participate, just like in the previous edition. The format remains unchanged, featuring a round-robin stage where each team will play against every other team once. This round-robin stage will consist of 45 matches.
After the round-robin stage, the top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals. In the first semi-final, the team ranked first will face off against the team ranked fourth, while the second semi-final will see the teams ranked second and third battling it out for a place in the final
- The 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup: A Spectacle of Cricketing Excellence
- A Look at the Fixtures
- The tournament is jam-packed with thrilling matches that will keep fans on the edge of their seats. Here’s a quick look at the fixtures:
- Opening Match: England vs New Zealand
- Date: October 5
- Venue: Ahmedabad
- Time: 2:00 PM
- Clash of Titans: India vs Australia
- Date: October 8
- Venue: Chennai
- Time: 2:00 PM
- High Stakes Encounter: India vs Pakistan
- Date: October 14
- Venue: Ahmedabad
- Time: 2:00 PM
- Battle of the Spinners: India vs Afghanistan
- Date: October 11
- Venue: Delhi
- Time: 2:00 PM
- Semifinals: The Road to the Final Showdown
- Semifinal 1: November 15 at Mumbai, 2:00 PM
- Semifinal 2: November 16 at Kolkata, 2:00 PM
- Grand Finale: The Ultimate Cricketing Showdown
- Final: November 19 at Ahmedabad, 2:00 PM
The schedule for the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup:
- October 5: England vs New Zealand at Ahmedabad, 2:00 PM
- October 6: Pakistan vs Qualifier 1 at Hyderabad, 2:00 PM
- October 7: Bangladesh vs Afghanistan at Dharamsala, 10:30 AM
- October 7: South Africa vs Qualifier 2 at Delhi, 2:00 PM
- October 8: India vs Australia at Chennai, 2:00 PM
- October 9: New Zealand vs Qualifier 1 at Hyderabad, 2:00 PM
- October 10: England vs Bangladesh at Dharamsala, 10:30 AM
- October 10: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka at Hyderabad, 2:00 PM
- October 11: India vs Afghanistan at Delhi, 2:00 PM
- October 12: Pakistan vs Qualifier 2 at Hyderabad, 2:00 PM
- October 12: Australia vs South Africa at Lucknow, 2:00 PM
- October 13: New Zealand vs Bangladesh at Chennai, 2:00 PM
- October 14: India vs Pakistan at Ahmedabad, 2:00 PM
- October 15: England vs Afghanistan at Delhi, 2:00 PM
- October 16: Australia vs Qualifier 2 at Lucknow, 2:00 PM
- October 17: South Africa vs Qualifier 1 at Dharamsala, 2:00 PM
- October 18: New Zealand vs Afghanistan at Chennai, 2:00 PM
- October 19: India vs Bangladesh at Pune, 2:00 PM
- October 20: Australia vs Pakistan at Bengaluru, 2:00 PM
- October 21: England vs South Africa at Mumbai, 10:30 AM
- October 21: Qualifier 1 vs Qualifier 2 at Lucknow, 2:00 PM
- October 22: India vs New Zealand at Dharamsala, 2:00 PM
- October 23: Pakistan vs Afghanistan at Chennai, 2:00 PM
- October 24: South Africa vs Bangladesh at Mumbai, 2:00 PM
- October 25: Australia vs Qualifier 1 at Delhi, 2:00 PM
- October 26: England vs Qualifier 2 at Bengaluru, 2:00 PM
- October 27: Pakistan vs South Africa at Chennai, 2:00 PM
- October 28: Qualifier 1 vs Bangladesh at Kolkata, 10:30 AM
- October 28: Australia vs New Zealand at Dharamsala, 2:00 PM
- October 29: India vs England at Lucknow, 2:00 PM
- October 30: Afghanistan vs Qualifier 2 at Pune, 2:00 PM
- October 31: Pakistan vs Bangladesh at Kolkata, 2:00 PM
- November 1: New Zealand vs South Africa at Pune, 2:00 PM
- November 2: India vs Qualifier 2 at Mumbai, 2:00 PM
- November 3: Qualifier 1 vs Afghanistan at Lucknow, 2:00 PM
- November 4: England vs Australia at Ahmedabad, 10:30 AM
- November 4: New Zealand vs Pakistan at Bengaluru, 2:00 PM
- November 5: India vs South Africa at Kolkata, 2:00 PM
- November 6: Bangladesh vs Qualifier 2 at Delhi, 2:00 PM
- November 7: Australia vs Afghanistan at Mumbai, 2:00 PM
- November 8: England vs Qualifier 1 at Pune, 2:00 PM
- November 9: New Zealand vs Qualifier 2 at Bengaluru, 2:00 PM
- November 10: South Africa vs Afghanistan at Ahmedabad, 2:00 PM
- November 11: India vs Qualifier 1 at Bengaluru, 2:00 PM
- November 11: Australia vs Bangladesh at Pune, 2:00 PM
- November 12: England vs Pakistan at Kolkata, 10:30 AM
- November 12: India vs Netherlands at Bengaluru, 2:00 PM
- November 15: Semifinal 1 at Mumbai, 2:00 PM
- November 16: Semifinal 2 at Kolkata, 2:00 PM
- November 19: Final at Ahmedabad, 2:00 PM
World Cup Squads
The participating teams have announced their squads for the tournament. Here’s a glimpse of the squads:
India:
- Captain: Rohit Sharma
- Vice-captain: Hardik Pandya
- Players: Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.
Pakistan:
- Captain: Babar Azam
- Players: Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim.
Australia:
- Captain: Pat Cummins
- Players: Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa (three to be omitted).
England:
- Captain: Jos Buttler
- Players: Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes.
South Africa:
- Captain: Temba Bavuma
- Players: Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen.
Netherlands:
- Captain: Scott Edwards
- Players: Max O’Dowd, Bas de Leede, Vikram Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Wesley Barresi, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Sybrand Engelbrecht.
New Zealand:
- Captain: Kane Williamson
- Players: Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.
Afghanistan:
- Captain: Hashmatullah Shahidi
- Players: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq.
Sri Lanka:
- Captain: Dasun Shanaka
- Vice-captain: Kusal Mendis
- Players: Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dushan Hemantha, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Matheesha Pathirana, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka; Travelling reserve: Chamika Karunaratne.
Bangladesh
- Captain: Shakib Al Hasan (c)
- Vice-Captain: Najmul Hossain Shanto (vc)
- Key Players: Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mustafizur Rahman
- Key Contenders
- India
- India, as the host nation, carries the hopes and aspirations of a cricket-mad nation. With a powerhouse of batting and a formidable bowling attack, India enters the tournament as one of the favorites.
- Australia
- The defending champions, Australia, will look to continue their dominance in the ODI format. With their aggressive style of play and a talented squad, they are a force to be reckoned with.
- England
- Known for their aggressive approach to ODI cricket, England boasts a balanced team with strong batting and dynamic fielding. They will be eager to lift the coveted trophy.
- Pakistan
- Pakistan, with its unpredictable flair, can never be counted out. Their skilled bowlers and exciting batting lineup make them a dark horse in the competition.
- The Spectacle of Cricket
- The 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup promises to be a cricketing extravaganza like no other. The venues are set to reverberate with the roar of the crowd, and the world will witness some breathtaking cricketing moments. As teams battle it out for supremacy, fans can expect nail-biting finishes, incredible centuries, and mesmerizing spells of bowling.
- The Global Cricketing Brotherhood
- This tournament is not just about competition; it’s about the camaraderie and spirit of cricket that unites nations. Fans from around the world will come together to celebrate this beautiful game, forming a global cricketing brotherhood.