NEW DELHI: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah said on Thursday 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 here.
“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.
Shah further said that everything is fine regarding security.
Talking about tickets, Shah said that BCCI has talked with the majority of state cricket associations. There is a time frame till Monday to think over and finalise the matter.
“Following this, ICC and BCCI will make an announcement jointly, regarding pricing as well. Ticket partner is also decided,” he added.
Shah said that coming to the upgradation of stadium infrastructure, the key priorities are housekeeping, toilets, hygiene and water.
“There will be a pre-World Cup project and post-WC project which will be carried out for the upgradation of stadium infrastructure. We are also prioritising hospitality and water. Regarding water, we have decided to tie up with Coca-Cola, which is the official ICC partner and provide their water in the stands to the fans. It would be either in bottled form or in glass form. It would be complementary,” he said.
Shah said that directions about installing proper signage across the stadium have been given to state associations so that the fan experience is better.
“Fans will be encouraged to come via metros since a lot of stadiums are metro connected. We cannot do e-tickets this time. We would make arrangements so that tickets can be redeemed at various places a week before. It would make things hassle-free,” he added.
Shah assured that there will be consistency in team selection in Asia Cup and World Cup, apart from the tour of Ireland.
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 15 November and in Kolkata on 16 November. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days. (ANI)