The ICC ODI World Cup is edging closer for the fans to cheer on as the 10 best ODI teams prepare to face off in the biggest cricket event of the year. The tournament will commence with Defending Champions England facing rivals New Zealand, who were the other finalists in 2019. They will rekindle their rivalry and also kickstart the tournament in India as the opener is set to be played in Ahmedabad on October 5.
Meanwhile, the knockouts will take place on October 15 and 16 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and the Eden Gardens in Kolkata respectively. This time around, both semifinals will have a reserve day as well. The tournament will culminate on October 19, once again at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The ICC also confirmed that if India does qualify for the semi-finals, then that game will be held at the Wankhede in Mumbai unless they are supposed to face off against rivals Pakistan. In such a situation. the match will be played in Kolkata.
This is because of security reasons in the city, as prominent political party Shiv Sena has earlier threatened to interrupt matches of Pakistan if the neighbouring nation plays in the country.
FORMAT OF THE TOURNAMENT
Much like the last edition in 2019, 10 teams will participate in the tournament. Seven have already qualified by virtue of the Cricket World Cup Super League, while India were already in the tournament as hosts. The remaining two teams will emerge from the ODI World Cup Qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe. The two finalists will make it to the mega event in October where each team will play the other nine in a round-robin format. The top four will qualify for the knockout stage and the semifinals.
All three knock-out fixtures will be day-night affairs, with the matches beginning at 14:00 local time. The tournament, spanning across 46 days and 48 matches. There are six league matches during the day, which will start at 10:30 am IST while the other matches will be day-night games starting at 2:00 pm IST.
