Indian Cricket Board plans to host Pakistan's 2023 World Cup matches at maximum two or three venues: Report

IND vs PAK (Image credit: Twitter)

Amid speculations about Pakistan's venues for the upcoming ODI World Cup matches, the Indian Cricket Board gave an update on the same on Tuesday, March 4. According to reports, the board plans to hold all of Pakistan's World Cup matches at a maximum of two or three venues. The major tournament hosted by India will be held from October 5 to November 19, 2023.

Earlier, there were reports that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is exploring their options to play their World Cup matches at a neutral venue. It came after India refused to play in Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023. Some officials said that Pakistan would play in Bangladesh, however, all such claims were later rejected by the Cricket Governing Body.

As per recent reports, Tamil Nadu and one or two other North Indian states are likely to host Pakistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup. The decision was made because the Indian Cricket Board wants to avoid the frequent travelling of the Pakistan cricket team.

EXCLUSIVE: The BCCI is planning to have all of Pakistan's 2023 World Cup matches at a maximum of two or three venues only. They want the team to avoid frequent traveling, and have taken a few states into confidence. North India and Tamil Nadu are likely to host Pakistan. #CWC23

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) April 4, 2023

A neutral venue is highly likely, says Wasim Khan

Earlier, Wasim Khan, the General Manager of Cricket Governing Body, claimed that Pakistan might play their 2023 World Cup matches at a neutral location rather than in India.

“I don’t know if it would take place here on in a different country but a neutral venue is highly likely. I don’t think that Pakistan will play their World Cup matches in India. I think their matches will also be held at a neutral venue just like India’s Asia Cup matches,” the British-Pakistani player said.

However, an Indian Cricket Board official denied his statement saying, “Wasim Khan has no business talking about the neutral venue, he should stop behaving like a PCB CEO”.

Pakistan is hosting this year’s Asia Cup in the first half of September. Meanwhile, India is likely to play their matches at a neutral venue, which is yet to be finalised. The two rivals have stopped playing bilateral matches for security reasons and now only meet in major tournaments. The last time the two nations met in a bilateral series was in 2013. Since then, India and Pakistan have faced each other only in Cricket Governing Body and Asian Cricket Council tournaments.