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Ever since the schedule for the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 has been released, there has been a lot of buzz and excitment among the fans for the marequee event. The tournament was last played in England in 2019 and it had been the Three Lions on that occasion who had emerged victrious beating New Zealand in the titular contest in the greatest-ever final played in the history of the World Cups. This time around the World Cup is set to be hosted by India. Even though the South Asian Country has hosted a few World Cup fixtures before, this is the first time that India will be the solo host of the entire tournament.
With India getting to be the hosts of the competition, this is also going to be the first time that a Pakistan cricket team will put foot on Indian soil since 2012. It is pertinent to note that though the two teams play each other in multi-nation events like the Asia Cup or the World Cups, they do not play bilateral cricket due to the tensed political relationship between the two countries. With Pakistan team’s presence in India a rare phenomenon, fans as well as cricket administrators want at least two matches between India and Pakistan, one which is a guranteed one, their league-stage game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the other in the knock out stage of the tournament.
And now former Bengal cricketer and the current president of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) Snehasish Ganguly has said that an India vs Pakistan semifinal at the Eden Garedens in Kolkata would be a dream match.
“Preparations have started. We started preparations after IPL for the World Cup. We are renovating the stadium, corporate boxes. Ground conditions are excellent. Preparations will start from July 1 for the ground. We had a meeting with our curator. Eden Gardens is ready to host the World Cup,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by NDTV.
“In IPL, everyone enjoyed the match since they were high scoring and the wicket condition was good. We will try maintaining it. We tried that we get a semifinal match this time and at the last moment, we got a semifinal match at Eden. Everyone’s first choice will be an India vs Pakistan semifinal at Eden Gardens, it would be a dream match,” he added.
While India will play their semi-final in Mumbai, if Pakistan happens to be their opponent then that match will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
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