Pakistan’s clash with archrivals India in this year’s one-day international World Cup has been brought forward a day to October 14 among eight other fixture changes, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Wednesday.
The world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmed-abad will host the hotly anticipated match, origi-nally set for October 15 at the same venue.
Fixtures for the 50-over World Cup were originally published in June after weeks of delays arising from Pakistan’s reluctance to travel to India.
Wednesday’s overhaul of the schedule, less than two months before the tournament begins, came after the Board of Control for Cricket in India said foreign teams had requested changes.
Indian media reports said Ahmedabad officials had raised concerns about their ability to provide adequate security because the match was originally scheduled at the start of a nine-day Hindu religious festival.
Ahmedabad is where Hindu-nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political career began and the showdown will take place at the stadium bearing his name.
India and Pakistan are bitter adversaries and only play cricket against each other in international tournaments due to longstanding political tensions.
Pakistan had agreed to visit India after they agreed to jointly host September’s Asia Cup, allowing India to play its matches in Sri Lanka.
But it was only this week that the Pakistan Cricket Board got approval from their government to make the India trip for the 50-over World Cup.
Any match between the South Asian neighbours, therefore, becomes one of the most-watched events on the global sporting calendar, and any victory is used to promote nationalism at home.
When they do play, cricket fans around the world are glued to their TV screens in a multi-billion-dollar bonanza for broadcasters.
Among the other changes, Pakistan’s match against Sri Lanka has been brought forward by two days and will now be played on October 10.
Australia’s match against South Africa in Lucknow will be played on October 12 instead of the following day.—AFP
