ICC World Cup 2023 schedule: No India matches in Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam ignored

HYDERABAD: The ICC World Cup 2023 schedule announced on Tuesday ended up disappointing cricket fans of Hyderabad as the Deccan city was not allotted any of India’s fixtures. As per the schedule announced by the International Cricket Council, Hyderabad will host three matches but none of those featuring the home team.

Interestingly, of the three matches that will be conducted at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal, two will feature India’s arch-rival Pakistan while the third match will see New Zealand in action. The news came as a bolt from the blue for the ardent cricket fans of Hyderabad and Telangana who hoped to catch some exciting action by the Indian team in their midst. Even the three matches that the city will host are are not likely to provide the fans with any serious entertainment as both Pakistan and New Zealand will be locking horns with minnows, emerging from the qualifier round.

The case of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh is even worse as the port city, boasting of an international venue in the VDCA - Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy cricket stadium, was completely ignored for the showpiece ICC event. Hyderabad incidentally will host the lowest number of World Cup matches with three while all other cities have been allotted four and five fixtures including semi-finals and the final.

There was already a furore a few weeks back over Hyderabad being overlooked for India matches when the ICC tweeted the tentative schedule of the World cup 2023. The die-hard fans of the city and across Telangana however kept hoping and praying that ICC would fulfill their aspirations and revise the schedule to allot at least one match of the home team to Hyderabad. But as things turned out, their prayers went unanswered.

As per the schedule comprising match fixtures, venues and timings, the World Cup will begin with the opening match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad between last edition’s finalists England and New Zealand on October 5.

India, the hosts and one of the favourites to lift the coveted trophy, will kick off its campaign with the first match against Australia in Chennai on October 8. But the fans will have to wait until October 15 for the home team’s most-awaited encounter with arch rival Pakistan which will be played out in Ahmedabad.

In other matches, India will face Afghanistan in Delhi on October 11; Bangladesh in Pune on October 19; New Zealand at Dharamsala three days later on October 22; England in Lucknow on October 29; winner of Qualifier in Mumbai on November 2; South Africa in Kolkata on November 5 before playing its final league match against another qualifier in Bengaluru on November 11.

Meanwhile, Pakistan will play its first two matches in Hyderabad against the winners of qualifier 1 and 2 on October 6 and October 12 respectively while New Zealand will face off with the winner of qualifier 1 on October 9 which will be the third and last World Cup fixture in Hyderabad.

The ICC World Cup 2023 will peak towards the climax with the two semi-finals at Mumbai and Kolkata on November 15 and 16 respectively before the grand finale at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19.