ICC World Cup 2023 likely between October 5 and November 19; Ahmedabad to host Final: Reports

ICC World Cup 2023 will be held in India and is expected between October 5 and November 19, while Ahmedabad is all set to host the final.

Image credit: Getty

The ongoing year will see the marquee cricketing event, the 2023 ICC World Cup, being held in India. While the dates for the competition are yet to be confirmed, as per ESPNcricinfo, it is set to run between October 5 and November 19. Also, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has informed the publication that around 12 venues have been shortlisted for the event, including Ahmedabad, which will be hosting the grand finale.

As for the other 11 venues of the tournament, they are Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot and Mumbai. Ten sides would contest the competition, with 48 matches to be played throughout, including three knockout games across 46 days. The venues for the warm-up matches are yet to be finalised.

Ideally, the International Cricket Council (ICC) declares the schedule for the competition a year before. However, there is a delay in deciding the same on BCCI's part, given the complications posed by the receding monsoon, which has led to the delay in the finalisation of venues, besides BCCI's wait on getting the required clearances from the Government of India, which includes tax exemption and visa clearance for Pakistan.

The BCCI reportedly assured ICC during its quarterly meetings in Dubai last week of getting the Pakistan visa cleared by the Indian government. Also, the BCCI would be updating the ICC on the tx exemption front, which has been an agreement between the two parties. Last year, the Indian tax authorities informed ICC that a 20% tax would be charged from its broadcast revenue. At the same time, the BCCI told the state associations that the tax incurred by ICC would have to be acclimated against BCCI's revenue from the central revenue pool of ICC.