Cricket World Cup match begins today at 2 pm

THE Cricket World Cup 2023 is about to begin, with the defending champions England set to take last edition's runners-up New Zealand in the opening clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

The opening match of the Cricket World Cup will start at 2 pm IST, with the toss taking place at 1:30 pm IST.

Though a few reports of the opening ceremony being held ahead of the start of the curtain-raiser fixture floated a few days ago nothing concrete has come from the Board of Control for Cricket in India or the International Cricket Council. As things stand, it doesn't look like an opening ceremony will be held before the Cricket World Cup begins.

As per a report in the Times of India, an opening ceremony was never planned to be held before the start of the Cricket World Cup matches.

"There was never an opening ceremony planned for the World Cup. I can confirm that," TOI quoted a source as saying. "In the case of the IPL, you can have a short opening ceremony, as the match starts in the evening. Here, the match starts in the afternoon," explained the source.

While an opening ceremony has not been scheduled, the BCCI did hold the Captains' Day on the eve of England vs New Zealand opener. In the event, all 10 captains were grilled by former India head coach Ravi Shastri and ex-England captain Eoin Morgan.

When India captain Rohit Sharma was asked about the fact that the last three World Cups were won by one of the hosting nations, he downplayed the factor.

"Not thinking too much about on that stuff but yeah in the last 3 editions hosting teams won the World Cups and we will give our everything in this World Cup and enjoy the tournament," Rohit said in the World Cup 2023 Captain's Day event.

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"People are going to love this tournament. The stadiums will be jam-packed. Indians love their cricket. It is going to be a great tournament," Rohit added.

Here are the details on the fixtures, kickoff times and venues for the tournament:

October 5

England vs New Zealand 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

October 6

Pakistan vs The Netherlands 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

October 7

Bangladesh vs Afghanistan 10:30am (05:00 GMT) – HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala

South Africa vs Sri Lanka  2pm (08:30 GMT) – Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

October 8

India vs Australia 2pm (08:30 GMT) – M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

October 9

New Zealand vs The Netherlands 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

October 10

England vs Bangladesh 10:30am (05:00 GMT) – HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

October 11

India vs Afghanistan  2pm (08:30 GMT) – Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

October 12

Australia vs South Africa  2pm (08:30 GMT) – BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

October 13

New Zealand vs Bangladesh 2pm (08:30 GMT) – M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

October 14

India vs Pakistan 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

October 15

England vs Afghanistan 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

October 16

Australia vs Sri Lanka  2pm (08:30 GMT) – BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

October 17

South Africa vs The Netherlands 2pm (08:30 GMT) – HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala

October 18

New Zealand vs Afghanistan 2pm (08:30 GMT) – M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

October 19

India vs Bangladesh 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

October 20

Australia vs Pakistan 2pm (08:30 GMT) – M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

October 21

The Netherlands vs Sri Lanka 10:30am (05:00 GMT) – BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

England vs South Africa 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

October 22

India vs New Zealand 2pm (08:30 GMT) – HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala

October 23

Pakistan vs Afghanistan 2pm (08:30 GMT) – M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

October 24

South Africa vs Bangladesh 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

October 25

Australia vs The Netherlands 2pm (08:30 GMT) –  Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

October 26

England vs Sri Lanka 2pm (08:30 GMT) – M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

October 27

Pakistan vs South Africa 2pm (08:30 GMT) – M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

October 28

Australia vs New Zealand 10:30am (05:00 GMT) – HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala

The Netherlands vs Bangladesh 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Eden Gardens, Kolkata

October 29

India vs England 2pm (08:30 GMT) – BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

October 30

Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

October 31

Pakistan vs Bangladesh 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Eden Gardens, Kolkata

November 1

New Zealand vs South Africa 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

November 2

India vs Sri Lanka 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

November 3

The Netherlands vs Afghanistan 2pm (08:30 GMT) – BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

November 4

New Zealand vs Pakistan 10:30am (05:00 GMT) – M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

England vs Australia 2pm (08:30 GMT) –  Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

November 5

India vs South Africa 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Eden Gardens, Kolkata

November 6

Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

November 7

Australia vs Afghanistan 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

November 8

England vs The Netherlands 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

November 9

New Zealand vs Sri Lanka 2pm (08:30 GMT) – M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

November 10

South Africa vs Afghanistan 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

November 11

Australia vs Bangladesh 10:30am (05:00 GMT) – Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

England vs Pakistan 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Eden Gardens, Kolkata

November 12

India vs The Netherlands 2pm (08:30 GMT) – M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

November 15

Semifinal 1: First place vs fourth place, 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

November 16

Semifinal 2: Second place vs third place, 2pm (08:30 GMT) – Eden Gardens, Kolkata

November 19

Final: Winner of Semifinal 1 vs winner of Semifinal 2, 2pm (8:30 GMT) – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.