15th October will be marked on the calendars of every Indian cricket team fan as India will host Pakistan at the Narendra Modi stadium in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, which will begin on 5th October.
The schedule for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 has finally been released on Tuesday, 27th June, with India hosting the event for the first time since 2011.
India are two-time champions of the ODI World Cup and reached the final of the 2003 edition in South Africa, where they lost to Australia. India have also finished as the semi-finalists four times, with the last two coming in 2015 and 2019 in Australia and England respectively.
India will be aiming to end their drought in ICC events during the home world cup this time. Since their ICC Champions Trophy win under Dhoni in 2013, India have failed to clinch the title, with the latest being their World Test Championship final loss to Australia earlier this month.
Last time the World Cup was held in India, MS Dhoni and his side ended up claiming the crown in 2011, making India the first host nation to win the title on home soil. Rohit Sharma will be hoping to replicate the same during this year’s campaign.
All eyes will be on the marquee clash between India and their arch-rivals Pakistan. Both teams have played in the World Cup seven times, starting with the 1992 World Cup. They would then face each other in 1996, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2015 and 2019.
India have won all the matches between the two sides on the ODI World Cup stage till now. The last time they played each other was at Manchester in the 2019 World Cup, where the team led by Kohli won by 89 runs.
Both teams will renew their rivalry at this year’s edition on 15th October at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
India will begin their campaign against Australia in Chennai on 8th October. They will then face Afghanistan in their second match on 11th October in Delhi. This will be followed by the match against Pakistan and then they will take on Bangladesh on 19th October in Pune.
India will then travel to Dharamshala to host New Zealand on 22nd October, followed by facing off against England on 29th October in Lucknow. India would then face Qualifier 2 on 2nd November in Mumbai, before facing South Africa in Kolkata on 5th November.
India will end their round-robin stage campaign against Qualifier 1 on 11th November in Bengaluru.
The semifinals will be played on 15th and 16th November in Mumbai and Kolkata respectively. The final will be held in Ahmedabad on 19th November.