The ICC communicated the changes to the PCB a few days ago and the Pakistan board subsequently accepted the revisions.
In a recent development, it’s now been known that the India-Pakistan game at the 2023 ODI World Cup will be played on October 14 rather than the scheduled date of October 15 as released in the original ICC schedule. While the ICC is yet to release a revised schedule which is expected by the end of this week, ESPNcricinfo has learned that the PCB has already agreed to the proposed change, keeping the match in Ahmedabad.
The alteration in the date of the World Cup’s significant encounter will also affect Pakistan’s preceding fixture against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad. The venue remains unchanged but the match will now take place on October 10 instead of October 12, providing Pakistan with ample time between the two matches.
The reported reason for the schedule change arose from the original date of the India-Pakistan fixture coinciding with the Hindu festival of Navaratri, raising concerns among the local police about ensuring adequate security on that day. The ICC communicated these changes to the PCB a few days ago and the PCB subsequently accepted the revisions.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah, however, stated that the alteration was not specifically due to Navaratri but rather in response to requests from several Full Member countries for changes to the World Cup schedule, leading to various tweaks being made.
The change in the India-Pakistan date is likely to impact other games and teams as well. October 14, which was previously a double-header featuring matches between Bangladesh and New Zealand in Chennai and Afghanistan and England in Delhi, may be affected, with the latter game potentially being played a day earlier on October 13.
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