We are weeks from the greatest spectacle in the cricket calendar, the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Ten Teams will be part of the Mega Event and coincidently 10 Venues will host the grand event. This article will guide and explain fans on these 10 Iconic Indian stadiums.

Presented by: Raghunath Nair

Date: 25/09/2023

The 13 edition of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup will be hosted by Indian and the games will be played around 10 venues across the country.

Cricket crazy fans will fill up these stadiums to witness Cricket’s biggest global tournament.

The world cup will begin with the last edition’s finalist England and New Zealand to open the tournament. Many cricket enthusiast believe that the finals of the 2019 edition was the best finals played in this mega event since its inception.

Presenting the ten venues of the tournament

Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

One of the newly renovated stadiums in the Indian circuit has quickly become one of the best in the country. It has already hosted some of India’s biggest tournament including the Indian Premier League.

The Narendra Modi Stadium is India’s Biggest Cricket stadium in terms of capacity (1,32,000) and will host some of the most important games in the tournament which includes the opener, the India Pakistan clash and the all-important final.

The stadium has witnessed many memorable moments like the breaching of the 10,000 Test run barrier by Sunil Gavaskar in 1987.

This is the home ground of Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League.

Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

The Chinnaswamy Stadium is one of the high scoring ground in the country and also one of the smallest in terms of boundary size ( 65 metres)

Due to the short boundary and a batting friendly pitch, it is a chasing ground and teams will prefer to bat second as the ground is very difficult to defend scores.

Expect some big scores from players and teams.

India’s National Cricket Academy is also here and is responsible to shape future talents for the country.

This is the home ground of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.

M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Chidambaram Stadium is one of the turning wickets in the country. Spinners will enjoy the pitch but the hot and humid weather of Chennai may cause problems to players. The proximity to the ocean may help the initial movement to the fast bowlers but spinners will dominate the majority of the game.

The first ever tied  Test match was played between India and Australia in this iconic stadium.

This is the home ground of Chennai SuperKings in the Indian Premier League.

Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi

One of the oldest stadiums in India, the Arun Jaitely Stadium was known for its slow low turner wickets. While the wickets have quickened up it is still a spinners paradise and an easy paced wicket for batsmen.

Unlike the Chinnaswamy stadium, this is a bat first wicket and captains will prefer to bat first due to the nature of the wicket and the unpredictable bounce.

Sachin Tendulkar broke Sunil Gavaskar’s record for most centuries in this stadium.

This is the home ground of Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League.

Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium, Dharamsala

The HPCA stadium is located in the picturesque Dharmsala in Himachal Pradesh.

The stadium will provide a run fest and batting sides will enjoy the pitch here. The ground is a small one and will provide lot of boundaries.

Afghanistan and Bangladesh will face off in this stadium and expect action packed high scoring match here.

Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Eden Garden is India’s most iconic cricket stadium with some very rich history.

It was India’s biggest stadium in terms of capacity till the renovation of the Narendra Modi Stadium and has a capacity of 68000.

Eden Garden hosted the 1987 World Cup Finals in 1987

The pitch in Eden Gardens do assist pace bowling and will offer lot of swing in the air. It will hosts the semi-finals clash along with other group matches.

This is the home ground of Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.

Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow

The Lucknow stadium is one of the new stadiums in the country. It will be making its world cup debut. While the stadium has very less international game experience, it has been extensively used in the Indian Premier league and the stadium will be ready for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
It is evenly paced wicket and bowlers and batsmen will both enjoy playing in this true surface.

Australia will clash with South Africa on 12 October.

This is the home ground of Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League.

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

India’s cricket capital will host one of the semi-finals in this edition. The 2011 Finals was held here and a truly chasing ground. The pitch always has bounce due to the nature of its soil and though the boundaries are short, spinners and pacers enjoy bowling here.

This is the home ground of Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

MCA International Stadium, Pune

Another stadium hosting the World Cup in Maharashtra is the MCA International Stadium, Pune. It is a test match approved ground and a true wicket. It would be a very sporting wicket and no advantage to bat first or second.

The pitch will assist spinners but due to the true nature of the pitch, teams will prefer to chase here.

India will be playing in this venue and can expect massive home support in this 42,700 capacity stadium when they take on Bangladesh in the group stage.

Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium will assist pace bowling in the initial half of the innings and once the initial phase is done with the pitch turns into a great batting wicket. It is a chasing ground and teams will prefer to bat second.

Thress matches are scheduled to be played in the venue including the Srilanka Pakistan clash which will be a crowd puller

This is the home ground of Sun Risers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League.

Venues for Warm up matches

While we are days from the biggest Cricket tournament, the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, warm matches are scheduled for teams to get acclimatized and get a feel of the Indian conditions.

All the matches will be of 50 overs game but will not be considered as an official one day international game according to ICC records.

The advantage of the warm up games is to allow all members from the 15-member squad to get match practice before the official mega event.

Teams can field any of their eleven players on the field and can make multiple replacement while fielding from their squad. Similarly, they can allow all their batsman to bat in the eleven.

Bowlers/ Batsman can bowl and bat freely without the worry of records and try to focus on their rhythm.

Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati are the three cities hosting the warm up games

Warm-up matches as scheduled.

Friday 29 September

Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati
South Africa v Afghanistan, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
New Zealand v Pakistan, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad

Saturday 30 September

India v England, Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati
Australia v Netherlands, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

Monday 2 October

England v Bangladesh, Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati
New Zealand v South Africa, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

Tuesday 3 October

Afghanistan v Sri Lanka, Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati
India v Netherlands, Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Pakistan v Australia, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad