Latest Cricket News: Babar Azam's Pakistan Cricket Team Will Travel To India For The ICC ODI World Cup 2023, Confirms Pakistan Government

Pakistan government announced on Sunday that it will send the national men's senior team to play the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, which will be held for the first time in its entirety in India from October 5 to November 19. "The Pakistan has consistently maintained that sports should not be mixed with politics. It has, therefore, decided to send its Cricket Team to India to participate in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023," said a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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"Pakistan believes that the state of bilateral relations with India should not stand in the way of fulfilling its international sports-related obligations. Pakistan’s decision shows its constructive and responsible approach vis-à-vis India’s intransigent attitude, as the latter had refused to send its Cricket Team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup."

Notably, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said on July 27 that the schedule of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will see some changes. "There is a small gap in some matches. There is a two-day gap between the two matches. After the match is over, players will travel the next day, and they will get no time for practice. Minor changes happen in the World Cup schedule, especially in India, when you look back at history," Jay Shah said while addressing a press conference.

Pakistan government has decided to send their team for the World Cup in India. [TOI] pic.twitter.com/0E3yNm04tO — Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 6, 2023

"We are trying that there are fewer changes in matches and venues, especially the venues. Also, two to three nations have requested changes in schedule. ICC and BCCI logistics teams are working on this and everything will be clear in two to four days. We could see some changes," he said.

As per the original schedule release in June, the opening match of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, featuring defending champions England and runner-up New Zealand, is set to commence on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Ten teams will feature in this biggest Cricket World Cup ever, to be played across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the tournament opener and the final. The event will feature 48 matches to be played across 46 days.

India's World Cup campaign will begin with a match against Australia on October 8 in Chennai. The venues other than Ahmedabad and Chennai are Bengaluru, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Pune. While Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram will join Hyderabad in hosting the practice games. Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will square off at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Eight teams have qualified for the 46-day event through the Cricket World Cup Super League while the final two spots were decided by the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier taking place in Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka and the Netherlands grabbed the two final spots in the tournament. The tournament retains the round-robin format of last time with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches. There are six day matches that will start at 10:30 Indian Standard Time (IST) while all other matches, including the knockouts, will be day-night fixtures starting at 14.00 IST.

The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, to be played in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16. The final will be on November 19 in Ahmedabad. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.