As expected, there have been changes in the schedule of the ODI World Cup to be held in India in the next two months. The changes were made due to the request of the security organizations to change the date of the match between India and Pakistan. According to the schedule announced by ICC, the match between India and Pakistan is scheduled to take place on October 15. But in Gujarat, where the match will be held, Navratri celebrations will begin on the same day. This will make it difficult to provide security for the match. Security agencies have asked BCCI to change the date. BCCI has sent proposals to ICC regarding this matter. It seems that the ICC has approved the schedule change as the Pakistan Cricket Board has also agreed to this. Therefore, the match scheduled to be held on October 15 will be held one day earlier, on October 14. An official announcement on the schedule change is yet to come.
Due to security reasons, the India-Pakistan match is going to be played a day earlier. As part of this, it seems that the date of the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka which will be held in Hyderabad on October 12 has also been changed. It is reported that both the teams have agreed to hold the match two days earlier i.e. on October 10. If the schedule of the match against Sri Lanka is changed, the Pakistan team will get at least 3-4 days rest before the match against India.
It seems that not only the matches played by India and Pakistan but also other three countries have requested to change the schedule. It is reported that the ICC is examining the possibilities. Reliable sources said that even if the schedule has to be changed, only the date and time will be changed and the venues will not be changed. An official announcement is likely to be made in 3-4 days regarding the change in ODI World Cup schedule.
The ODI World Cup will be held in India from October 5 to November 19 for a total of 46 days. The tournament will begin with the England-New Zealand match at Ahmedabad on October 5. India will play their first match against Australia on October 8. The tournament will be held in round robin format. Ten teams are participating in this tournament. One team will play against the other 9 teams in the league stage. The top-4 teams at the end of the league stage will qualify for the semi-finals.