According to BCCI secretary Jay Shah, the calendar for the 2023 ODI World Cup will shift a bit. The new version will be decided upon after discussions with the ICC.
Shah made his statement after learning this week that the BCCI was considering postponing the October 15 India vs. Pakistan match in Ahmedabad to October 14. Shah did not specify if the India-Pakistan date was one of the alterations, but he did mention that boards from several other nations have written to the BCCI to request changes due to logistical issues their teams would encounter. But he did not mention the teams.
Following a BCCI meeting in Delhi on Thursday, Shah stated that “there is a possibility there could be a few changes in the schedule.” “Several Full Member nations have written in asking that two or three of the scheduled dates be changed. We are negotiating with the ICC, and we anticipate clearing it in two to three days.
The local police had expressed concerns about providing appropriate protection on October 15, which is also the beginning day of Navratri, a nine-day Hindu festival, prompting the BCCI to contemplate moving the India-Pakistan match up by a day.
Shah, though, flatly rejected that as the cause. “Why would the match travel there (to Ahmedabad) if security was an issue? The issue is not [October] 14–15. A change has been requested by two or three boards due to logistical difficulties. When there is only a two-day break between matches, it will be challenging to play, travel the next day, and play again.
Shah stated that the locations of the matches would not change in the amended schedule, but the intervals between them would. “We are trying to avoid changing the site or the schedule of the games as much as we can. It’s crucial that the location remains unchanged. We are attempting to shorten the six-day gaps between teams’ games to four or five days, and to lengthen the two-day gaps between teams to three days.
In comparison to the last two World Cups, where the schedule was announced at least a year in advance, the World Cup schedule’s announcement exactly one month ago was a significant delay. The event is set to start on October 5 in Ahmedabad with defending champions England taking on New Zealand, but neither the ICC nor the BCCI have made any announcements on the timing of ticket sales.
According to Shah, the World Cup ticketing procedure, including the cost and platform, will be revealed the following week in collaboration with the ICC.
