2023 World Cup schedule is to be finalised in the next few days

The 2023 ODI World Cup schedule is set to undergo a few changes, with several countries having requested tweaks to the schedule that was released a month ago.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed the changes on Thursday, saying that the ICC and the BCCI are working on finalizing the revised schedule in the next few days.

Shah did not reveal which countries had requested changes, but he said that the requests were based on logistical challenges that the teams would face.

One of the changes that are being considered is moving India vs Pakistan fixture in Ahmedabad from October 15 to 14. This is because local police have raised concerns over providing adequate security on October 15, which is also the first day of Navratri, a nine-day Hindu festival.

Shah, however, denied that security was the reason for the change in schedule. He said that the two or three boards that had requested changes were simply looking to increase the gap between matches so that their teams would have more time to travel and recover.

“As far as possible, we are looking at not changing the venue as well as the matches,” Shah said. “Not changing the venue is very important. Teams which have six-day gaps between matches, we are trying to reduce it to four-five days; and for those that have just two-day gaps, we are trying to increase to three days.”

The World Cup schedule was released exactly a month ago, which was a severe delay compared to the previous two World Cups where the schedule was released at least a year in advance. The tournament is scheduled to begin on October 5, with reigning champions England taking on New Zealand in Ahmedabad, but the ICC and the BCCI have not yet announced when the tickets will go on sale.

Shah said that the ticketing process for the World Cup – the pricing and the platform – will be announced next week in coordination with the ICC.

The changes to the World Cup schedule are the latest in a series of logistical challenges that have faced the tournament organizers. In the past few months, there have been concerns over the availability of hotels and flights in Ahmedabad, as well as the quality of the pitches at some of the venues.

Despite these challenges, Shah expressed confidence that the 2023 World Cup will be a success. “We are confident that we will be able to deliver a world-class tournament,” he said.