ICC World Cup 2023: India vs Pakistan match on October 15 likely to be rescheduled to avoid clash with Navratri start

The much-anticipated World Cup match between India and Pakistan is likely to be rescheduled due to the Navratri festival. The match was originally slated to be held on October 15 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which clashes with the first day of Navratri, a significant festival celebrated with garba nights across Gujarat.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly been advised to reconsider the itinerary due to security concerns. The India vs Pakistan World Cup match date might be changed as security agencies have alerted BCCI to change the date because of the Navratri festival, sources told India Today. The decision regarding the match date is likely to come out soon.

In the case the date does get changed, it would create a logistical nightmare for fans who have already made travel plans and booked tickets.

With a capacity of nearly 1 lakh, the Narendra Modi Stadium, will host four marquee games of the World Cup, including the tournament opener between New Zealand and England, India vs Pakistan, England vs Australia, and the final.

The World Cup 2023 will be held across 10 cities, with the semifinals to be held in Mumbai and Kolkata.

After the schedule for the World Cup was announced last month, cricket enthusiasts rushed to get their hands on the tickets and pre-plan their tour in order to avoid last-minute hassle. As a result, room rentals in many cases went up to over 10 times immediately. Moreover, rates on several flight booking websites have risen on the back of unprecedented demand, leading to a sharp surge in flight ticket prices for October 15.

The last encounter between India and Pakistan was during the 2019 World Cup in Manchester’s Old Trafford Cricket Ground, when India scored a big win. Rohit Sharma, who scored 140 off 113, was declared the Player of the Match. Virat Kohli had scored 77 off 65 balls, while KL Rahul had scored 57 off 78 balls. Pakistan’s Babar Azam had scored 48 off 57 balls.

In 2015 also, India had tasted victory over Pakistan in a group stage match held at Adelaide, Australia.