Chennai, Kolkata likely to be Pakistan's preferred venues for ODI World Cup matches

The 2023 ODI World Cup which will be hosted by India is set to begin on October 5. While there have been discussions on venues where Pakistan will play their matches, ahead of the marquee event preferable cities have been revealed. According to ICC sources, the Pakistan cricket team would prefer to play most of its World Cup matches in Chennai and Kolkata. The reason behind this is that the team has felt safe during its earlier tours at these two venues.

"A lot will depend on what BCCI and the Indian government decide but given a choice, Pakistan will like to play most of its World Cup matches in Kolkata and Chennai.

"In Kolkata, Pakistan played its T20 World Cup game against India in 2016 and the players were very happy with the security. Similarly, Chennai as a venue remains memorable for Pakistan. It's also about feeling safe at specific venues," a



source close to ICC Board told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

India will host 46 World Cup games including the final set to be played across 12 Indian cities. the venues include Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, Rajkot, Bengaluru, Delhi, Indore, Guwahati and Hyderabad, Dharamsala. Each team will play nine games at the league stage which will be held in a round-robin format.

In 1996, the quarterfinal game was held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. During the 2011 World Cup, Pakistan's semifinal against India was played at Mohali, which made it logistically convenient for the fans across the border to travel. However, Mohali does not figure in the 12 venues finalized by the BCCI. Pakistan's 2016 World Cup match was scheduled in Dharamsala but there were apprehensions that because of the Pathankot tragedy, it wasn't a wise idea to host the match at that venue.