BCCI asks World Cup staging units to forego bilateral ODIs

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has instructed state units to “voluntarily forego their turn to host an ODI during the bilateral international season” ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023. The 50-over World Cup will begin on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with reigning champions England taking on New Zealand. 

Meanwhile, India, the hosts, will begin their campaign on October 8 against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. In addition, the warm-up games ahead of the main event are scheduled to be played from September 29 to October 3.

According to a report, BCCI secretary Jay Shah stated that he made a request to the state cricket associations while discussing the staging of the forthcoming World Cup during a meeting on June 26 in Mumbai. He stated that the marquee event would be held at 12 venues spread across six zones and that it is a wonderful opportunity for the country to exhibit its organizational brilliance to the rest of the globe.

“First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to each one of you for your presence and active participation in the meeting held at Mumbai on June 26, 2023 to discuss the staging of the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

"As you are all aware, this prestigious tournament will be hosted across 12 venues situated in 6 zones. The main tournament matches will take place from October 5 to November 19, with warm-up matches scheduled from September 29 to October 3. It is an exciting opportunity for us to showcase our organizational excellence to the world," the letter copy as per Sports Tak read.

Here is the breakdown of the allocated matches by zone:

The 2023 Cricket World Cup will be held at ten different venues in India. Meanwhile, the warm-up matches will be held at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram and the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.

In Thiruvananthapuram, India will face the winner of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2023 in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, the Guwahati stadium will host a warm-up clash between the Rohit Sharma-led side and defending champions England. Furthermore, Mohali, which hosted the World Cup semi-finals in 1996 and 2011, as well as Indore, Nagpur, Cuttack, and Raipur, would not get the chance to host the World Cup matches.

North Zone: Delhi (Delhi & District Cricket Association) and Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium).

Centre Zone: Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association).

West Zone: Mumbai (Mumbai Cricket Association), Ahmedabad (Gujarat Cricket Association) and Pune (Maharashtra Cricket Association).

East Zone: Kolkata (Cricket Association of Bengal).

North East Zone: Guwahati (Assam Cricket Association).

South Zone: Chennai (Tamil Nadu Cricket Association), Bengaluru (Karnataka State Cricket Association), Hyderabad (Hyderabad Cricket Association), and Trivandrum (Kerala Cricket Association)