Australia fly south to Trivandrum to take on Netherlands as India travel to Guwahati in the far east for their first warm-up
Shashank Kishore
Less than 72 hours after completing the three-match ODI series in Rajkot, India and Australia will start their final World Cup rehearsals against England and the Netherlands respectively on September 30.
Meanwhile, Pakistan play New Zealand in a warm-up match on September 29, while South Africa take on Afghanistan. Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka.
While India flies to Guwahati in the Far East for its first warm-up, Australia will fly to Trivandrum in the south. Both sides, as well as Afghanistan and New Zealand, have scheduled warm-up matches in different cities.
The other six teams will all be stationed in one city for warm-ups. Hyderabad will host Pakistan, while Guwahati will host England, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The southern coastal town of Trivandrum will host the match between the Netherlands and South Africa.
India and Pakistan will face the Netherlands and Australia respectively on the final day of October 3, drawing a successful conclusion to the warm-up match of this World Cup, and then the two teams will go to their respective venues for the opening match. All warm-up matches will be day and night matches, starting at 2pm local time, with all 15 players on the team cleared to play.
The captain’s match will take place on 4 October, a day before the tournament officially kicks off in Ahmedabad on 5 October, with defending champions England taking on 2019 runners-up New Zealand. Hosts India will play Australia in Chennai in October. 8.
The International Cricket Federation also announced its official ticketing partners on Wednesday, while confirming that pre-sale of tickets for the match will begin on August 24, 42 days before the tournament kicks off.
Shashank Kishore is Senior Associate Editor for ESPNcricinfo
