The International Cricket Council (ICC) has begun outlining a plan for the 2027 ODI World Cup, and the body is narrowing down dates for the tournament next year. According to a Cricbuzz report, the organisers are looking to start the 14-team tournament on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti next year. The ICC wants the competition to start on October 2 to commemorate the life of a leader who championed peace and non-violence. It is worth mentioning that South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia are the co-hosts for the tournament.
Mahatma Gandhi also had strong links with South Africa, as he spent 21 years in the country; hence, it is not a surprise that the ICC wants to pay tribute to a leader known as the Father of the Nation in India.
According to Cricbuzz, the ICC had earlier planned to start the tournament on October 8, after holding warm-up matches from October 1 to 7. However, the plan has now been changed, and the revised schedule is all but set for the tournament to begin on October 2. The final is expected to be played on November 21, which basically means that the World Cup will run for around 50 days.
The ICC recently confirmed the venues for the 2027 World Cup. 12 venues will host the tournament across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Eight cities across South Africa, three in Zimbabwe and Namibia’s capital were unveiled as the venues.
Venues and World Cup format
The venues for the competition in South Africa are Wanderers Stadium (Johannesburg), Centurion (Tshwane), Newlands Cricket Ground (Cape Town), Kingsmead Cricket Ground (Durban), St George’s Park (Gqeberha), Mangaung Oval (Bloemfontein), Boland Park (Paarl) and Buffalo Park (KuGompo City, formerly known as East London).
Harare Sports Club (Harare), Queens Sports Club (Bulawayo) and Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium (Victoria Falls) are the three venues in Zimbabwe, while the 12th and final venue is the Namibia Cricket Ground (Windhoek).
Recently, the ICC also changed the format of the 50-over World Cup, which has come under criticism from associate member nations such as Scotland and the Netherlands. The three lowest-ranked teams in the 14-team competition now have to compete in a mini-league called the Super Series.
The winner of the Super Series will then join the remaining 11 teams to form a 12-team competition, divided into two groups. The teams will play each other within their respective groups, followed by a Super Seven stage, the semi-finals and the final.
