It’s official. The hotly-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan at this year's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup has been rescheduled, the ICC announced on Wednesday.
Details of eight other matches have also changed.
India and Pakistan were originally scheduled to play against each other in Ahmedabad on Sunday, 15 October. Now, the match will be held at the same venue a day earlier, on Saturday, 14 October.
Reportedly, the date was changed as October 15 is also the first day of Navratri. The city’s security and other departments would have been stretched beyond limit had the India-Pakistan game also been played the same day.
As a result, England's fixture against Afghanistan in Delhi will be moved from 14 October and will now be played a day later.
Pakistan's contest against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad has moved from 12 October to 10 October.
Australia's high profile duel against South Africa in Lucknow will now be played on 12 October instead of 13 October.
In other changes, New Zealand's game against Bangladesh originally scheduled as a day match for 14 October in Chennai has been moved back and will now be held on 13 October as a day-night contest.
From the initial phase of the tournament, a minor change to the fixture refers to the timing of England's match-up against Bangladesh in Dharamsala, with the clash becoming a day match and a 10:30AM (local time) start after it was originally scheduled as a day-night fixture.
Towards the end of the league stage, there are three changes.
The double-header encounters of Sunday, 12 November have been moved a day earlier to Saturday, 11 November – Australia vs Pakistan in Pune (10:30AM) and England vs Pakistan in Kolkata (2 PM).
Meanwhile, India's last league game against the Netherlands has now been shifted from 11 to 12 November, a day-night clash to be played in Bengaluru.
The World Cup commences on Thursday, 5 October, when 2019 finalists England and New Zealand clash at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with the event culminating in the final at the same venue on Sunday, 19 November.
