After continuous delays after delays, the wait is finally over as the ICC announced the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 schedule. The 10-team mega event will take place in India and the host will begin the tournament by taking on defending champions England.
The Semi-Finals one and two will be played in Mumbai and Kolkata respectively while the grand finale will take place in Ahmedabad, the world’s biggest stadium.
The schedule was released during the ongoing World Test Championship 2023 final between India and Australia at the Oval, London. However, the schedule was delayed as the BCCI could not send the draft on time. This also met with the approval from the Pakistan government to send their team to their neighbouring country.
In relation to this, also read: Should Pakistan travel to India for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023?
However, after a long delay, the government body of cricket finally unveiled the schedule on June 27, 2023. It was revealed in an event, which was scheduled in Mumbai, with a mark as a countdown of 100 days of the World Cup to begin.
World Cup 2023 Schedule
The 13th edition of the 50-over competition sees 10 stadium host games across 10 different cities in India. They are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Dharamsala, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.
In addition, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram are added as venues for warm-up games.
The tournament will begin against the last edition’s finalists. Their last meeting in the 50-over game was yielded as one of the greatest ODIs ever played.
Here’s the complete World Cup 2023 Schedule:
| # | Date | Matches | Venue | Timings (PKT) |
| 1 | 5 October | England vs New Zealand | Ahmedabad | 1:30 pm |
| 2 | 6 October | Pakistan vs Netherlands | Hyderabad | 1:30 pm |
| 3 | 7 October | Bangladesh vs Afghanistan | Dharamsala | 10:00 am |
| 4 | 7 October | South Africa vs Sri Lanka | Delhi | 1:30 pm |
| 5 | 8 October | India vs Australia | Chennai | 1:30 pm |
| 6 | 9 October | New Zealand vs Netherlands | Hyderabad | 1:30 pm |
| 7 | 10 October | England vs Bangladesh | Dharamsala | 1:30 pm |
| 8 | 11 October | India vs Afghanistan | Delhi | 1:30 pm |
| 9 | 12 October | Pakistan vs Sri Lanka | Hyderabad | 1:30 pm |
| 10 | 13 October | Australia vs South Africa | Lucknow | 1:30 pm |
| 11 | 14 October | New Zealand vs Bangladesh | Delhi | 10:00 am |
| 12 | 14 October | England vs Afghanistan | Chennai | 1:30 pm |
| 13 | 15 October | India vs Pakistan | Ahmedabad | 1:30 pm |
| 14 | 16 October | Australia vs Sri Lanka | Lucknow | 1:30 pm |
| 15 | 17 October | South Africa vs Netherlands | Dharamsala | 1:30 pm |
| 16 | 18 October | New Zealand vs Afghanistan | Chennai | 1:30 pm |
| 17 | 19 October | India vs Bangladesh | Pune | 1:30 pm |
| 18 | 20 October | Australia vs Pakistan | Bengaluru | 1:30 pm |
| 19 | 21 October | Netherlands vs Sri Lanka | Mumbai | 10:00 am |
| 20 | 21 October | England vs South Africa | Lucknow | 1:30 pm |
| 21 | 22 October | India vs New Zealand | Dharamsala | 1:30 pm |
| 22 | 23 October | Pakistan vs Afghanistan | Chennai | 1:30 pm |
| 23 | 24 October | South Africa vs Bangladesh | Mumbai | 1:30 pm |
| 24 | 25 October | Australia vs Netherlands | Delhi | 1:30 pm |
| 25 | 26 October | England vs Sri Lanka | Bengaluru | 1:30 pm |
| 26 | 27 October | Pakistan vs South Africa | Chennai | 1:30 pm |
| 27 | 28 October | Australia vs New Zealand | Kolkata | 10:00 am |
| 28 | 28 October | Netherlands vs Bangladesh | Dharamsala | 1:30 pm |
| 29 | 29 October | India vs England | Lucknow | 1:30 pm |
| 30 | 30 October | Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka | Pune | 1:30 pm |
| 31 | 31 October | Pakistan vs Bangladesh | Kolkata | 1:30 pm |
| 32 | 1 November | New Zealand vs South Africa | Pune | 1:30 pm |
| 33 | 2 November | India vs Sri Lanka | Mumbai | 1:30 pm |
| 34 | 3 November | Netherlands vs Afghanistan | Lucknow | 1:30 pm |
| 35 | 4 November | New Zealand vs Pakistan | Ahmedabad | 10:00 am |
| 36 | 4 November | England vs Australia | Bengaluru | 1:30 pm |
| 37 | 5 November | India vs South Africa | Kolkata | 1:30 pm |
| 38 | 6 November | Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka | Delhi | 1:30 pm |
| 39 | 7 November | Australia vs Afghanistan | Mumbai | 1:30 pm |
| 40 | 8 November | England vs Netherlands | Pune | 1:30 pm |
| 41 | 9 November | New Zealand vs Sri Lanka | Bengaluru | 1:30 pm |
| 42 | 10 November | South Africa vs Afghanistan | Ahmedabad | 1:30 pm |
| 43 | 11 November | India vs Netherlands | Bengaluru | 1:30 pm |
| 44 | 12 November | Australia vs Bangladesh | Kolkata | 10:00 am |
| 45 | 12 November | England vs Pakistan | Pune | 1:30 pm |
| 46 | 15 November | Semi-Final 1 (1 vs 4) | Mumbai | 1:30 pm |
| 47 | 16 November | Semi-Final 2 (2 vs 3) | Kolkata | 1:30 pm |
| 48 | 19 November | The Final | Ahmedabad | 1:30 pm |
Pakistan’s World Cup 2023 Schedule
The Babar Azam-led team will play at five venues in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. They will begin their first two campaign matches against Qualifying teams, which will come from World Cup Qualifiers. Both games will be played in Hyderabad.
Their only game in Ahmedabad, the world’s biggest cricket stadium, will be played versus arch-rivals India on October 15.
Bengaluru will see the Green Team challenge the Trans-Tasmin neighbours while Chennai challenges them versus Afghanistan and South Africa. Kolkata sees Bangladesh and current World Champs England take on the Shaheens.
Here’s the full schedule.
| # | Date | Matches | Venue | Timings (PKT) |
| 1 | 6 October | Against Netherlands | Hyderabad | 1:30 pm |
| 2 | 12 October | Against Sri Lanka | Hyderabad | 1:30 pm |
| 3 | 15 October | Against India | Ahmedabad | 1:30 pm |
| 4 | 20 October | Against Australia | Bengaluru | 1:30 pm |
| 5 | 23 October | Against Afghanistan | Chennai | 1:30 pm |
| 6 | 27 October | Against South Africa | Chennai | 1:30 pm |
| 7 | 31 October | Against Bangladesh | Kolkata | 1:30 pm |
| 8 | 4 November | Against New Zealand | Bengaluru | 10:00 am |
| 9 | 12 November | Against England | Kolkata | 1:30 pm |
Pakistan’s previous WC performances
In the 2019 edition, the national team won five games out of nine with one washout. However, they were tied with 11 points alongside New Zealand but their Net Run Rate was poor and hence, they were out of the top four.
The Shaheens, just like the 1992 edition, lost three out of five games with one washout before winning their remaining games.
The last time the national team played the 50-over competition in India was in 2011 when Shahid Afridi-led team reached the semi-finals but lost to India.
Here are their previous performances.
| Year | Host(s) | Final Standing |
| 1975 | England | Group Stage |
| 1979 | England | Semi-Final |
| 1983 | England | Semi-Final |
| 1987 | India and Pakistan | Semi-Final |
| 1992 | Australia and New Zealand | Champions |
| 1996 | India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka | Quarter-Final |
| 1999 | England, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland and Wales | Runners-Up |
| 2003 | South Africa | Group Stage |
| 2007 | West Indies | Group Stage |
| 2011 | India | Semi-Final |
| 2015 | Australia and New Zealand | Quarter-Final |
| 2019 | England and Wales | Group Stage |
Where do you think Pakistan will end? Do share your thoughts below.
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