The biggest and most anticipated tournament in cricket, the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 is set to begin on October 5 with a rematch of the 2019 edition’s finale. The ICC event will be preceded by warm-up matches between the participating nations. The warm-up games will be hosted from September 29 to October 3 in Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad.
The hosts for this season of the World Cup will play their first warm-up match against the reigning champions, England. The game slated to be hosted on September 30 will be played amidst the scenic beauty of east India at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, Assam.
The two-time world champions will be entering into the competition on the back of a classic win in the Asia Cup 2023 as well as a 2-1 series win against Australia. The Indian squad consists of several reliable players who have, over the years, won many big games for their side, including the likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja and more.
Not only this, but the Indian spinning maestro Ravichandran Ashwin made it to the squad after he replaced Axar Patel, who suffered an injury during the continental tournament. Speaking of England's squad, the reigning champions come with a strong batting line-up, in the names of Joss Buttler and Joe Root.
The weather of Guwahati on the match day is expected to be hot and humid, with the temperature going as high as 33 degrees Celsius. Not only this, but the ability of precipitation remains 55% during the day and is likely to reach around 70% at night, as per weather.com.
