The ICC ODI World Cup 2023 kickstarted in India on Thursday with England locking horns with New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The ongoing mega event will be conducted in the round-robin format with all teams will play a total of 9 matches against each other. Post that, the top four teams with the most points will make it to the semi-finals.
All the playing teams will be taking part in 9 games each and they have to seal victory in at least 7 matches in order to put themselves in a safe position as rain will also play a crucial role like it does in the previous warm-up games.
If any of the games get called off due to rain, the qualification will depend on the net run rate of a team. All the teams who are participating in the World Cup need to make sure that they not only win matches but also seal victory by a healthy margin. The ruling body of cricket, ICC has issued guidelines that a minimum length of a boundary line would be 70 meters. The ICC has also advised all the curators to prepare the tracks with more grass to avoid the dew factor. As per the new rules, the boundary count will be ignored and if the game ends on a draw in the super over, teams will continue playing super overs until a winner is decided.
The ICC’s other newly made rule has ended the Soft Signal as now the on-field umpire can take an initial decision before consulting the third umpire. Earlier, the drill was if the third umpire failed to find conclusive evidence to revoke his decision, the on-field umpire’s decision stood.
The Men in Blue under the leadership of Rohit Sharma will play their first match against five-time champions Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on October 8. The upcoming match holds immense value for Team India as they will be looking to start their campaign on high.