The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is likely to host the 2023 India-Pakistan 2023 World Cup match, according to a report by the Indian Express.
This will be the first match between the arch-rivals on Indian soil since 2016.
“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to host the high-voltage match at the Ahmedabad stadium in anticipation of a large number of fans who are expected to travel to India from abroad for the fixture, it is learnt. With a seating capacity of 1 lakh, the Narendra Modi Stadium is the country’s largest,” the report stated.
The report added that the official schedule for the mega event will be announced by the BCCI after the conclusion of the ongoing Indian Premier League.
According to sources, the World Cup is likely to begin on October 5 with Nagpur, Bengaluru, Trivandrum, Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Rajkot, Indore, Bengaluru and Dharamshala set to host the matches.
Due to security reasons, most of Pakistan’s matches could take place in Chennai and Bengaluru.
Earlier, the International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed the brand identity of this year’s World Cup in India.
The brand has been developed with the ‘Navarasa’, a term in Indian theatre, which is the nine emotions spectators experience during the event.
“The Navarasa has been reimagined in a cricketing context, using symbols and colour to depict the various emotions fans feel while living the drama and excitement of a World Cup cricket match. The rich history of the Men’s Cricket World Cup will induce so many emotions from fans all around the world. The nine emotions in the CWC23 Navarasa are joy, power, anguish, respect, pride, bravery, glory, wonder and passion which perfectly represent the reactions that a Men’s Cricket World Cup evokes,” the ICC stated.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma is also excited about playing the mega event on home soil.
“With six months to go until the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 the excitement is really starting to build,” said Sharma.
"Playing a World Cup on home soil is every player’s dream, even more so as captain and I can’t wait for it to start. The Men’s Cricket World Cup is a very special event for everyone involved in cricket and we will be doing everything over the next few months to prepare as best we can to give us the greatest chance to lift the trophy,” he added.