Pakistan’s warm-up match against New Zealand in the upcoming 2023 ICC ODI World Cup on September 29 will be played behind closed doors at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, the BCCI confirmed on Monday.
All the 10 participating teams at the showpiece event will be playing some warm-up games ahead of the main tournament, which gets underway on October 5.
However, spectators will not be allowed for the Pakistan vs New Zealand warm-up match due to inadequate security in Hyderabad while the other games will be open for fans. As per reports, there will be a lack of adequate security provided by Hyderabad Police during the festive season.
“The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 warm-up match between New Zealand and Pakistan scheduled to take place in Hyderabad on 29th September will now take place behind closed doors as per the advice of the local security agencies,” the BCCI said in a statement on Monday.
“The match in Hyderabad coincides with festivals on the day and large gatherings are expected around the city. The spectators who bought tickets for the game will receive a full refund,” it added.
Earlier, the Hyderabad Police had urged the state cricket association to shift or change the date of the game as they won’t be able to provide enough security due to the game clashing with the festivals of Ganesh Visarjan and Milan-Un-Nabi which culminate on September 28.
However, the Indian board had rejected the appeal as they had already made some amendments to the busy schedule.
Notably, the highly-anticipated India vs Pakistan ODI World Cup clash was originally scheduled for October 15 in Ahmedabad but was later shifted to October 14. The BCCI made the change as October 15 was the first day of Navratri which sees Garba nights being held across the state of Gujarat where massive crowd is witnessed.
The change in the schedule of the clash between the arch-rivals further forced the ICC to make a few more changes in the original schedule. Significantly, India’s last league game against the Netherlands, a day-night clash to be played in Bengaluru, has now been shifted to November 12 from November 11.
Notably, the Babar Azam-led Pakistan will begin their campaign against 1996 champions Sri Lanka in Hyderabad on October 10. The BlackCaps, the runners-up of the 2019 edition, will take on defending champions England at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5, the first game of the showpiece event.