The ICC World Cup 2023will be hosted solo by India for the first time solo and one of the biggest issues is the Pakistan team as reportedly the PCB officials are in talks with the ICC as they want Chennai and Kolkata as their preferred venues for the tournament.
The World Cup will start tentatively on October 5, with 46 matches, including the final set to be played across 12 Indian cities, including Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, Rajkot, Bengaluru, Delhi, Indore, Guwahati, and Hyderabad.
Now PTI has reported that talks are on between PCB officials and a top-level ICC executive as the board wants Pakistan to have its matches of the tournament in Chennai and Kolkata -- the two venues where the team has felt safe during its earlier tours.
Notably, in the 2016 T20 World Cup, Pakistan’s match was scheduled in Dharamsala but there were apprehensions because of the Pathankot tragedy and the game was shifted to Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
"A lot will depend on what BCCI and the Indian government decide but given a choice, Pakistan will like to play most of its World Cup matches in Kolkata and Chennai. In Kolkata, Pakistan played its T20 World Cup game against India in 2016 and the players were very happy with the security. Similarly, Chennai as a venue remains memorable for Pakistan. It's also about feeling safe at specific venues," a source close to ICC Board told PTI.
But given that the India-Pakistan clashes in the ICC tournament hogs the most eyeballs and generates a huge revenue, the BCCI would want this high-voltage clash to happen in the biggest cricket stadium in the world- Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which seats over 1,30,000 people.
Each team will play nine games at the league stage which will be held in a round-robin format.
The ICC Events Committee, in association with the host cricket board BCCI, will chalk out the final itinerary in the next few months so that it allows fans across India and other parts to plan their travel itinerary.
(PTI inputs)
