Less than two weeks after the revised schedule was announced, and less than one week before the tickets started going on sale, the BCCI and ICC have been faced with another roadblock concerning the 2023 World Cup schedule.
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The official World Cup schedule was first announced on June 27. Shortly afterwards, reports of several state associations as well as some participating teams requesting changes in the schedule for reasons ranging from inadequate security due to festivities to inadequate time between matches began to surface.
After a lot of deliberation and back-and-forth, a revised schedule was announced on August 9. As many as nine fixtures, including the India-Pakistan clash, had new dates. Along with the revised schedule, dates for ticket sales were also announced: the first batch of tickets was to go on sale on August 25.
However, according to a report by The Indian Express today (August 20), the World Cup schedule may possibly be in for even further revisions.
The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) has requested the BCCI to provide a gap between the two fixtures the venue is scheduled to host on October 9 and October 10.
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According to the original schedule, Hyderabad was supposed to host the Pakistan versus Sri Lanka on October 12. However, due to the rescheduling of the India-Pakistan game, it had to be preponed to October 10. Hyderabad is also scheduled to host New Zealand versus Netherlands on October 9, which is creating problems for the HCA.
According to the report, the Hyderabad police have raised concerns over providing adequate security for the two consecutive fixtures, one of which involves Pakistan. The report also states that HCA were not consulted by the BCCI before the rescheduling of the fixtures, which was why the concerns are now being raised more than ten days after the updated schedule was announced.
BCCI and ICC have already come under a lot of criticism following their mishandling of the World Cup schedule and the ticketing process. Whether they go ahead with another tweak in the fixtures a handful of days before the tickets go on sale remains to be seen.