ICC World Cup 2027 Schedule: ODI World Cup 2027 The countdown has officially started. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the schedule of the tournament in Cape Town. The 2027 ODI World Cup is returning to African soil again after 24 years. This time the tournament will be hosted by South Africa along with Zimbabwe and Namibia.
In this World Cup, not only the announcement of dates is important, but the group format of the tournament, the dates of big matches like India-Pakistan, the venues chosen for the matches and the hosting of knockout matches are also special. The 2027 World Cup will consist of 57 matches and 14 teams will participate in it. Australia will enter the tournament as the defending champion.
India’s campaign from October 7
Team India will start its World Cup campaign against Australia on 7 October. The match between the two teams will be played in Cape Town. Just three days later, India will clash with Pakistan. The high-voltage match between India and Pakistan will be played in Johannesburg on 10 October. After this, India will face Afghanistan in Tshwane on 14 October.
The fourth match of the Indian team will be against Qualifier A in Bloemfontein on 17 October. India’s last match in the group stage will be against Zimbabwe on October 24 in Victoria Falls.
When will the match between India and Pakistan take place?
According to ICC, the group stage of 12 teams has been divided into two groups. India and Pakistan are in Group A. This group will also include Australia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and a qualifier team. The second group will include Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand, South Africa and the second qualifier. This means that in the group stage, India will have to play against teams like Australia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The match against Pakistan will be held in Johannesburg on October 10, which will be one of the most talked about matches of the tournament.
World Cup again on African soil in 2027
The ODI World Cup will return to Africa after 24 years in 2027. The World Cup was last played in South Africa in 2003. This time, along with South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia will also host. India reached the final in the 2003 World Cup, where Australia defeated it and won the title. The Australian team captained by Ricky Ponting had performed brilliantly in that final.
Now in 2027, the Indian team will face another World Cup campaign on the same continent. However, this time the circumstances and format of the tournament will be different. India will start its campaign against defending champions Australia and then face Pakistan.
Tournament of 14 teams, new format
14 teams will participate in the 2027 World Cup. The group stage of the tournament will start with 12 teams, while the teams coming through qualification will also get a place in the group. After the matches between the teams divided into two groups, the picture of the next phase will be clear. That means every match will be important for India right from the beginning of the tournament. The first match against Australia, then the clash with Pakistan and then matches against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe – the entire path of India’s group campaign has now been revealed.
Now the focus will be on how the Indian team progresses its campaign in this schedule and how far it goes in the race for the title once again on African soil after 2003 in the 2027 World Cup.