The International Cricket Council (ICC) has agreed to the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) request to play a non-Asian team in the World Cup 2023 warm-up matches, which will begin in October in India.
In a note to the ICC, the PCB reportedly expressed a lack of interest in playing the warm-up match against Afghanistan, claiming that the Men in Green would have previously faced the adjacent country during the Asia Cup prior to the big event.
Pakistan’s warm-up games against New Zealand and Australia will be held in Hyderabad on September 29 and October 3, according to the schedule released on Tuesday. This means they will not face any Asian teams before the event.
Here is Pakistan’s schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023:
- October 6 – vs Qualifier 1 in Hyderabad
- October 12 – vs Qualifier 2 in Hyderabad
- October 15 – vs India in Ahmedabad
- October 20 – vs Australia in Bengaluru
- October 23 – vs Afghanistan in Chennai
- October 27 – vs South Africa in Chennai
- October 31 – vs Bangladesh in Kolkata
- November 4 – vs New Zealand Bengaluru (Day match)
- November 12 – vs England in Kolkata
The day match will begin at 10:00 a.m. Pakistan Standard Time (PST), while the other matches will begin at 01:30 p.m. (PST).
The Cricket World Cup Super League has qualified eight teams for the event, with the final two spaces going to the winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe.
If the West Indies qualify, regardless of where they finish in the Qualifiers, they will be in Q1.
If Sri Lanka qualifies, they will be placed in Q2, regardless of where they finish in the Qualifiers.
Pakistan will play in Kolkata if they make the semi-finals.
If India qualifies to the semifinals, it will play in Mumbai unless they face Pakistan, in which case it will play in Kolkata.
The competition will be contested in a round-robin format, with all teams facing each other in 45 league matches.
The top four teams will advance to the semifinals, which will take place on November 15 in Mumbai and November 16 in Kolkata. There will be reserve days for the semi-finals and final.
