ODI World Cup 2023 is going to be very competitive: India skipper Rohit Sharma

Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma is expecting the upcoming ODI World Cup in India to be a highlycompetitive affair since the game has become fasterAll formats of the games including the traditional fiveday games have been impacted by the emergence of Twenty20 cricket The batters are not averse to going for their strokes from the word goIndia aiming for their third World Cup title and the second at home will begin their campaign against fivetime champions Australia in Chennai on October 8India are scheduled to play all their nine league matches at different venues including Kolkata Mumbai New Delhi Lucknow and BengaluruThis World Cup is going to be very competitive as the game has become faster and teams are playing more positively than ever before Rohit was quoted as saying in an ICC releaseAll this augurs well for fans worldwide promising them many thrilling moments We look forward to preparing well and being at our best this OctoberNovember he addedAfter their duel with Australia the hosts will move to Delhi for a clash against Afghanistan on October 11India vs PakistanIndias muchanticipated clash with archrival Pakistan is scheduled for October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in AhmedabadThe two Asian neighbours now play against each other only at the ICC and ACC events as bilateral cricket ties are frozen due to diplomatic tension The most recent match between the two nations was during the T20 World Cup in Australia last yearIndia and Pakistan have faced each other seven times in ODI World Cup in 1992 1996 1999 2003 2011 2015 and 2019 The only time they didnt clash in a 50over World Cup was in 2007 when both the teams crashed out of the tournament in the opening round itselfIndias other bigticket fixtures include matches against New Zealand and England on October 22 and 29 in Dharamsala and Lucknow respectivelyAlso Read ODI World Cup 2023 ICC rejects Pakistans venue change request for two matchesFormatThe tournament retains the roundrobin format with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matchesThere are six day matches in the tournament which will start at 1030am ISTAll other matches including the knockouts will be daynight fixtures starting at 2pm ISTThe top four teams will qualify for the semifinals to be played in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16 The semifinals and the final will have reserve daysIf India qualify for the semifinals they will play their lastfour stage game in MumbaiIndias ScheduleIndia vs Australia Oct 8 ChennaiIndia vs Afghanistan Oct 11 DelhiIndia vs Pakistan Oct 15 AhmedabadIndia vs Bangladesh Oct 19 PuneIndia vs New Zealand Oct 22 DharamsalaIndia vs England Oct 29 LucknowIndia vs Qualifier 2 Nov 2 MumbaiIndia vs South Africa Nov 5 KolkataIndia vs Qualifier 1 Nov 11 BengaluruWith PTI inputsAlso Read ODI World Cup 2023 Schedule Dates and venues announced Ahmedabad to host final