New Delhi: The Indian and Australian cricket squads touched down in Chennai, gearing up for their inaugural clash in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, scheduled for October 8th. The host nation, India, will kickstart their World Cup journey at the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium, facing off against Australia in what promises to be a riveting encounter this coming Sunday.
Indian cricket stars including Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, R Ashwin, and Shubman Gill were seen at the Chennai Airport, among others. Simultaneously, Australian players such as David Warner, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell, and others were also seen at the airport.
India’s two warm-up matches against England and the Netherlands were called off due to persistent rain.
The World Cup kicks off on October 5th, featuring a highly anticipated match between England and New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The tournament will wrap up with the final at the same venue on November 19th. India’s campaign begins in Chennai on October 8th against Australia.
The World Cup will feature ten teams playing 48 matches across ten venues from October 5 to November 19. The venues include Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Pune. Additionally, practice games will be held in Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram, along with Hyderabad.
It has been over a decade since the last World Cup was held in India, where the home team emerged victorious in a memorable final. With the upcoming tournament, fans have high hopes of witnessing Team India break their World Cup drought and lift the coveted trophy once again.
India World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav.