The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the schedule for the 2023 Men’s ODI Cricket World Cup, which is set to begin in 100 days. The tournament will kick off at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on October 5 and conclude with the final match on November 19, also to be held at the same venue. Mumbai and Kolkata have been selected as the hosts for the semifinals on November 15 and 16, respectively.
However, Chennai‘s M.A. Chidambaram Stadium has missed out on hosting one of the marquee clashes. The tournament will be played across 10 different venues, making it the largest-ever ICC event. Alongside Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, the other hosting cities include Bengaluru, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Lucknow, and Pune.
Originally, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and Chepauk Stadium in Chennai were expected to host the last four matches of the World Cup. Kolkata was also under consideration but has now been selected as a one of the semifinal venue along with Mumbai.
The decision to allocate a semifinal to Eden Gardens was made during a meeting in Mumbai on Monday (June 26) between the BCCI, ICC officials, and the 12 state associations of the host cities. The change was partly due to weather conditions in Chennai during October and November, as the region experiences the North-East monsoon, and the BCCI/ICC did not want to take any risks considering it is a knockout game.
Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) also expressed its inability to hold the tie because of the North-East monsoon that is usually active from late October to mid-December.
“The monsoon sets around October 20 (plus or minus seven days), and there are chances of cyclones as well in November, That’s why all our matches have been scheduled earlier,” senior TNCA official was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
However, Chennai will host five matches, including India’s opening game against Australia on October 8.