The International Cricket Council made the announcement on Tuesday that India would play host to Pakistan’s national cricket team for the first time in seven years at the 50-over World Cup.
The event will start on October 5 with the current champions, England, taking against New Zealand at the largest cricket stadium in the world, which is located in Ahmedabad and will also play home to the tournament’s final.
A ceasefire was called when Pakistan agreed to host the Asia Cup in September using a hybrid model. The timetable was announced after weeks of delay owing to Pakistan’s unwillingness to go to India; nevertheless, the delay was caused by Pakistan’s refusal to travel to India.
The much-anticipated matchup between bitter rivals India and Pakistan will take place in Ahmedabad on October 15, after the home team’s first match of the tournament against Australia on October 8.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued a statement one hundred days before the start of the competition, stating that “each team will play the other nine in a round robin format,” with the top four teams qualifying for the knockout round and semi-finals.
Due to the ongoing political difficulties between the two countries, India and Pakistan only compete against one another in cricket during international competitions that take place in neutral locations. The most recent instance of this was during the Twenty20 World Cup that took place in Australia the previous year.
Every competition that takes place between the South Asian neighbors is thus elevated to the status of one of the most-watched events on the schedule of sports competitions throughout the world, and every win is exploited to stoke the flames of nationalism back home.
When they do play, cricket fans all across the globe are captivated to their television screens, which results in a multi-billion dollar windfall for broadcasters.
The World Cup match between India and Pakistan in the 50-over format attracted a total of 273 million viewers.
Since 2012, India and Pakistan have not competed against one another in a bilateral series on the grounds of either country.
In addition, since 2007, they have not competed against one another in a full match in the Test format; instead, they have only met in the condensed formats of the game.
The last time Pakistan played cricket in India was for the Twenty20 World Cup in 2016, therefore this would be their first trip there since then for the World Cup.
India and Pakistan have had a violent and bloody past throughout their shared history, despite the fact that they share profound cultural and linguistic ties.
Since the division of the subcontinent in 1947, the two countries, which both possess nuclear weapons, have engaged in three wars.
In 2011, India became the first country to ever win the ODI World Cup on its own turf. Since then, both Australia and England have triumphed at their home grounds to claim the championship in 2015 and 2019, respectively.