Team India to face England and the Netherlands in 2023 World Cup warm-up matches
Team India will take on England and The Netherlands in the warm-up matches for the 2023 World Cup, with the ICC announcing the full schedule of the same. India's arch-rivals Pakistan will face Australia and New Zealand.
The Men in Blue and Australia will switch to their World Cup mode, only three days after the three-match ODI series between them. While Rohit Sharma and Co. will travel to Guwahati for their first practice game (September 30) against defending champions England, the Men in Blue will lock horns against the Netherlands in Trivandrum on the same day.
The hosts' second and final warm-up fixture is against the Dutch. Pakistan will play both their warm-up matches in Hyderabad. All the practice matches are scheduled for a 2 p.m. start, meaning it will be day-night sessions. The apex body of cricket, on Wednesday, also announced the tournament's official ticketing partners.
India to face Australia in the opening game of the tournament:
Meanwhile, the Men in Blue's opening match of the tournament itself is against Australia at the Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. While India beat the five-time champions in their last World Cup meeting, the Men in Yellow lead the contest head-to-head by 8-4 in 12 outings. However, the most-awaited match for India will arguably be against Pakistan, hosted by the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) initially objected to sending their team to the neighbouring nation before reluctantly agreeing to it. The initial date of October 15th was also later rescheduled to the 14th due to the Hindu festival of Navratri.
The hosts already have a busy schedule ahead of the 2023 World Cup as the Asia Cup begins on August 30th and will take on Pakistan to start their campaign. Defending champions England and runners-up England will kickstart the 2023 World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.