India will be hosts of ICC ODI World Cup 2023 and the tournament is all set to get underway from October 5 this year. The final of the ODI World Cup, the first in India after the historic triumph in 2011 will take place on November 19 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.


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Apart from Ahmedabad, the shortlist of host cities comprises of Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot and Mumbai, according to ESPNCricinfo website. In all the tournament will comprise 48 matches including three knockouts across the 46-day duration.


Apart from the details for the final, the BCCI have not specified venues for any games as yet or the two or three cities where teams will play the warm-ups ahead of the World Cup. The delay in finalising the venues is due to the complications posed by the monsoon season receding in different parts of India.


“The ICC usually announces World Cup schedules at least a year in advance, but this time it has also been waiting for the BCCI to get the necessary clearances from the Indian government. This includes two key issues: getting a tax exemption for the tournament, and visa clearance for the Pakistan team, which has not played in India except at ICC events since early 2013,” the ESPNCricinfo report read.



At the ICC’s quarterly meetings last weekend in Dubai, the BCCI has apparently assured the global body that visas for the Pakistan contingent will be cleared by the Indian government, according to the website.


As for the tax exemption issue, the BCCI is expected to update the ICC soon on the exact position of the Indian government. The tax exemption has been part of the host’s agreement the BCCI signed with the ICC in 2014, when three men’s events were awarded to India – the 2016 T20 World Cup, the 2018 Champions Trophy (later changed to 2021 T20 World Cup, which was moved to the UAE and Oman due to the pandemic) and the 2023 ODI World Cup. As per the agreement, the BCCI was ‘obligated’ to help the ICC (and all its commercial partners involved in the tournament) secure tax waivers.


Last year the ICC was informed by the Indian tax authorities that it would be charged a 20 per cent tax order (excluding surcharges) for its broadcast revenue from the 2023 World Cup. In a note distributed to its members – state associations – the BCCI pointed out that any tax ‘incurred’ by ICC would be ‘adjusted’ against the Indian board’s revenues from ICC’s central revenue pool.