Festival season World Cup gets rejigged, dates of nine games changed | Cricket News
Barely 43 days after the schedule for the 2023 ODI World Cup was released, the International Cricket Council announced an amended itinerary on Wednesday with as many as nine games affected.In effect, the Navratri and Kali Puja festivals have prompted changes in two matches, while the other fixtures have had to be adjusted to fill the resultant voids.The most high-profile of these amended fixtures is the India-Pakan game in Ahmedabad, which has been brought forward a day to October 14. The original date coincided with the first day of Navratri, celebrated with great fervour in Gujarat. India’s match against the Netherlands in Bengaluru will now be played on November 12 and will be the last round robin fixture before the knockout games.
Nine fixtures have been rescheduled for #CWC23.
Details 👇
— ICC (@ICC) August 9, 2023
October 15 will now witness the England-Afghanan game in Delhi. Pakan’s match against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad will now take place two days earlier than in the original schedule, on October 10, giving them an extra day before facing the hosts. The day-night fixture will be part of a double-header after the England-Bangladesh game in Dharamsala starting that morning. The latter game was earlier a day-night fixture. The Australia-South Africa clash in Lucknow will now step into the void on October 12. Another game rescheduled is the New Zealand-Bangladesh match in Chennai. It was earlier slotted as a day game on October 14, but will now be a day-night fixture on October 13.
Pakan’s game against defending champions England in Kolkata, which was earlier marked for November 12, will be played a day earlier as Cricket Association of Bengal had reportedly raised concerns about the encounter coinciding with Kali Puja. The Australia-Bangladesh game in Pune will kick off earlier that morning, making it another double-header.
#ICC has announced rescheduled fixtures for World Cup. pic.twitter.com/kLEQVUXfyw
— Devendra Pandey 🦋 (@pdevendra) August 9, 2023
In effect, Pakan, England and Bangladesh have had three games each rescheduled, while India and Australia have had two games each affected. Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand, Afghanan and the Netherlands have had one game each rescheduled.
It’s noteworthy that the final itinerary for the previous two 50-over World Cups – in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, and in the UK in 2019 – were finalised more than a year in advance, making it much easier for fans to make their travel and accommodation plans after deciding which matches to go to. On Wednesday, there were 57 days left for the start of the tournament.
Tickets not yet on sale
The start of ticket sales was waiting for the finalisation of the World Cup schedule, but fans will have to wait a bit more before they can buy them.
To start with, they will have to reger their interest for tickets to a particular match, starting August 15. This will enable them to ticket news first and help secure their spot at the World Cup, the ICC press release said. Tickets will go on sale from August 25, starting with those of non-India matches. Tickets for the hosts’ warm-up fixtures in Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram will be available from August 30, a day before those of India’s games in the main event will start going on sale in phases. In contrast, tickets to all non-India matches will be made available for sale at one go.
It is pertinent to note that tickets for arguably the most looked-forward-to round robin match of the tournament, the India-Pakan game, will be the last one to be put on sale, on September 3. Tickets for the semi-finals and final will be available from September 15.
Booking schedule:
Aug 25: Non-India warm-up matches, all non-India League gamesAug 30: India warm-up games at Guwahati and ThiruvananthapuramAug 31: Ind-Aus (Chennai), Ind-Afg (Delhi), Ind-Bang (Pune)Sept 1: Ind-NZ (Dharamsala), Ind-Eng (Lucknow), Ind-SL (Mumbai)Sept 2: Ind-Ned (Bengaluru), Ind-SA (Kolkata)Sept 3: Ind-Pak (Ahmedabad)Sept 15: Semi-finals & Final
HOW TO BOOK A WORLD CUP TICKET
STEP 1: Starting August 15, reger your interest in buying a ticket for a preferred game on https://www.cricketworldcup.com/reger.STEP 2: On the designated day and time, fans can log in and book tickets.STEP 3: Physical tickets can be picked from designated collection centres at the host city. At an extra cost, they can even be couriered.
* Those making a booking abroad will need an Indian address to use the courier facility.* Courier facility available for tickets booked at least 72 hours before a game.
