The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that India will be hosting Pakistan’s cricket team for the first time in seven years for the upcoming 50-over World Cup.
The tournament is set to commence on October 5, with defending champions England facing off against New Zealand at the impressive Ahmedabad cricket stadium, which will also host the final match. The schedule had been delayed due to Pakistan’s initial refusal to travel to India. However, a resolution was reached when Pakistan agreed to host the Asia Cup in September using a hybrid model. Consequently, the highly anticipated clash between India and Pakistan will take place in Ahmedabad on October 15, following India’s opening match against Australia on October 8.
The ICC stated that each team will play nine matches in a round-robin format, with the top four teams advancing to the knockout stage and semifinals. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) mentioned that their team would require clearance from Islamabad before participating in the tournament.
The India-Pakistan cricket rivalry is well-known, with the two nations only playing each other in international tournaments, often at neutral venues, due to long-standing political tensions. Consequently, any match between the two teams is a highly anticipated event on the global sporting calendar, drawing in millions of viewers and serving as a platform for promoting nationalistic sentiments.
The last time India and Pakistan faced each other in a bilateral series on either country’s soil was in 2012. Since then, they have only met in the shorter formats of the game and have not played a Test match against each other since 2007.
This year’s World Cup will mark Pakistan’s first cricket tour to India since the T20 World Cup in 2016. India, on the other hand, emerged victorious in the previous ODI World Cup held on home soil in 2011. In subsequent years, Australia and England claimed the title in their respective countries in 2015 and 2019.
Overall, cricket fans worldwide eagerly anticipate the India-Pakistan matches, making them significant events for broadcasters and the sport as a whole.
![LAHORE: Sterling performances by Pakistan’s opening batter Fakhar Zaman helped him to attain the International Cricket Council Men’s Player of the Month award for April, cricket governing body announced on Tuesday. Fakhar smashed centuries in each of the opening two games of Pakistan’s five-match One-day International series against New Zealand. His 180 not out in the second match in Rawalpindi, following 117 in the first, helped Pakistan pull off their second-highest run chase. “He [Zaman] beat tough competition from Sri Lanka spin wizard Prabath Jayasuriya, and emerging New Zealand batter Mark Chapman,” an ICC news release stated. Fakhar said he was “truly honoured” to win the award. “This month has been one of the highlights of my career and it was an amazing feeling to play in front of my own people in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi,” he was quoted as saying in the ICC news release. “I really enjoyed scoring back-to-back centuries in Rawalpindi, but my favourite was the 180 not out in the second match. I hope to continue the momentum leading into the World Cup, and make Pakistan fans happy and proud with my performances.”](https://www.thepaksports.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Fakhar-bags-ICC-player-of-the-month-award-100x70.jpg "Fakhar bags ICC player of the month award")
