CWC 2023: ICC announces schedule for warm-up games, each team to play two matches

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the warm-up fixtures for all 10 participating teams in the ODI World Cup which is starting from October 5 in India. Each team will play two warm-up matches at three venues namely Hyderabad, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram in week preceding the tournament.

“The 10 teams will each play two official 50-over contests during the week leading up to the start of the World Cup on October 5, with matches to be held in three different cities across India,” said an official release by the ICC.

“The matches will be held in Guwahati, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram between Friday 29 September and Tuesday 3 October and will provide teams with the perfect opportunity to acclimatise to the conditions they are expected to face during the World Cup. All matches in the warm-up round will start in the afternoon. All games will commence at 2:00pm IST and teams will be allowed to field all members of their 15-player squads during the matches,” it added.

Apart from 10 warm-up games, the World Cup will have 48 games, including two semi-finals and the final, in a round-robin format.

India will be playing its two warm-up games against defending champions England and Netherlands. The dates and venues for India's fixtures are September 30 and October 3 in Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram, respectively. Before the World Cup, India will also be taking part in the Asia Cup.

The regional tournament, which starts August 30, is being played in 50-over format this time as a practice tournament for the quadrennial event. India also announced its 17-man squad for Asia Cup recently and the same players, more or less, are expected to make it to the World Cup squad as well.

Being the host country, India are one of the favorites to win the tournament. They had last won the 50-over World Cup in 2011 while hosting it alongside Bangladesh.

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