The highly-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan at the 2023 Men's Cricket World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad was rescheduled to October 14 by International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday.
The development comes after the news of the most high-profile clash in the tournament being brought forward from the original date of October 15, owing to it coinciding with the first day of Navaratri, a major, nine-day Hindu festival as local police in Ahmedabad had raised concerns over providing adequate security on that day.
Apart from the India-Pakistan match, details of eight other matches have also been changed in the latest updated schedule of the tournament released on Wednesday.
India's last league match against the Netherlands, a day-night clash to be played in Bengaluru, has now been shifted to November 12 from November 11.
Due to the change in date of the India-Pakistan clash, defending champions England's fixture against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi will now be played 24 hours later on October 15, instead of the original date of October 14.
Pakistan's contest against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad has moved from October 12 to now being played on October 10. On the other hand, Australia's big match against South Africa in Lucknow has been moved back by 24 hours and will now be played on October 12 instead of October 13.
New Zealand's game against Bangladesh, which was originally scheduled as a day match for October 14 in Chennai has been moved back by 24 hours and will now be held on October 13 as a day-night contest. England's clash against Bangladesh in Dharamsala on October 10 is now a day match with a 10:30am start time after it was originally scheduled as a day-night fixture.
Matches scheduled for November 12 have been moved a day earlier to November 11 -- Australia-Bangladesh in Pune (10:30am) and England-Pakistan in Kolkata (2pm). It comes after the date of the England-Pakistan clash could be changed due to it coinciding with Kali Puja in the city.
The World Cup commences on October 5 when 2019 finalists England and New Zealand clash at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with the event culminating in the final at the same venue on November 19.
Meanwhile, the ICC announced that tickets will go on sale from August 25 in a phased manner, with the fans getting the opportunity to register their interest via the official website of the tournament from August 15.
August 25 will see the start of sale of non-India warm-up matches and all non-India event matches, followed by sale of India’s warm-up matches at Guwahati and Trivandrum on August 30.
Tickets for India matches at Chennai, Delhi and Pune will be put on sale on August 31, followed by tickets of their matches at Dharamsala, Lucknow and Mumbai coming for sale from September 1.
Sale for India's matches at Bengaluru and Kolkata will happen on September 2, followed by the same for India matches at Ahmedabad happening on September 3. September 15 will see sale of tickets for semi-finals and finals of the ODI World Cup.
"We are delighted to announce that fans can now register to receive information and updates on official tickets for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. The schedule, after some amendments, has now been finalized and fans can now look forward to buying tickets and watching some high-quality cricket. The BCCI will leave no stone unturned to ensure that you have an enjoyable experience at all the hosting venues," said BCCI CEO Hemang Amin.