A semifinal of the Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 is expected to take place at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, which has become a strong favourite. The highly anticipated schedule has undergone a last-minute change, according to Cricbuzz.
On Monday, June 26, representatives from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) met with state associations of host cities to discuss the allocation of a semifinal to Eden Gardens. The meeting was attended by 12 associations.
The potential weather in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, in October and November, was one of the reasons for moving a semifinal there from Chennai.
Eden Gardens in Kolkata is likely to host this year’s Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 semifinal
The BCCI/ICC believed the city might not be the best choice for a knockout game during those months because the region experiences North-East monsoon.
There will be some World Cup matches for the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA), though. At the aforementioned meeting held in Mumbai, a representative of the state board was present.
A host association’s expected operational duties were also explained to the associations.
Twelve locations are decided for the World Cup, they are – New Delhi and Dharamsala in the North Zone, Lucknow in the Central Zone, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Pune in the West, Kolkata and Guwahati in the East, and Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Thiruvananthapuram in the South.
The 48 official World Cup matches, including the three knockout games, will be played at the other 10 venues instead of Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram, which will only host warm-up games.
At first, the semifinal matches were scheduled to take place at Wankhede (Mumbai) and Chepauk (Chennai). Then Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore surfaced as a potential venue, and just hours before the games’ official unveiling, Kolkata emerged as a formidable rival to Mumbai and Chennai.
However, Mumbai and Kolkata are probably where the semifinal games will be held. The ICC declined the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) request to alter the locations of their matches, as Cricbuzz had previously reported.
Accordingly, the high-profile India-Pakistan game will take place in Ahmedabad per the original draft schedule, and Pakistan will host Afghanistan and Australia in Chennai and Bengaluru, respectively.
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