The schedule for the highly anticipated 2023 Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup has been revealed by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament will commence on October 5 at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, culminating in the final on November 19 at the same venue. Mumbai and Kolkata have been designated as the venues for the semifinals on November 15 and 16, respectively.
While the selection of these venues took various factors into account, such as regional distribution and recommendations from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), several major cities have expressed disappointment for not being chosen to host World Cup matches. Prominent cities like Mohali, Indore, Rajkot, Ranchi, and Nagpur were notably omitted. Officials from these cities have expressed dissatisfaction, emphasizing their strong cricketing legacy and past contributions to previous World Cups.
Indore, recognized for regularly hosting international matches, including a recent Test in the Border-Gavaskar series, has expressed disappointment over the decision. Questions have been raised about the selection process, with suggestions that political considerations may have influenced the allocation of matches.
Indore hosted a World Cup game between Australia and New Zealand back in 1987. We feel bad that Indore has been left out. I don’t know the compulsions of the BCCI. Indore has a rich cricketing history and therefore we expected it to be a venue of the World Cup – Abhilash Khandekar, president of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association