June 16, 2019: An Important Day for the Cricket Fans

After the clash in the Champions Trophy final almost two years back, India and Pakistan are going to meet at Old Trafford in the marquee contest of the 2019 World Cup.The tournament will be played at 11 venues across England and Wales, with Lord’s being given the honour of hosting the final on July 14, for the fifth time.

Old Trafford to host the world cup clash between India and Pakistan

The eleven venues are Lord’s, The Oval, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, Headingley, Old Trafford, Taunton, Bristol, Chester-le-Street, Southampton and Cardiff.

England will face South Africa in the inaugural match at The Oval on May 30. The match between Australia and Afghanistan on June 2 at Bristol will be the first of the seven day-night contests scheduled for the tournament.

The India-Pakistan contest, at the same venue that hosted their Super Six clash in the 1999 edition of the tournament, is expected to once again attract record eyeballs, as was the case during both their meetings during last year’s Champions Trophy.

India’s campaign starts against South Africa on June 5 in Southampton. India will be starting late as the result of a request from the BCCI, who wanted India’s first match pushed back to comply with the Lodha Committee’s recommendation that there needed to be a 15-day window between the IPL and India’s participation in any international series or tournament.

The tournament returns to the format used in 1992, all 10 teams play each other in the league stage with four of them progressing to the knockouts.

Even though the World Cup will be played during the first half of the English summer, the ICC has insured the knockout matches − both semi-finals and the final − by having reserve days for the three games.

Along with hosts England, seven other countries – Australia, Bangladesh, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka – secured a direct entry to the World Cup last September. In March, Afghanistan and West Indies booked the final two slots after finishing as the top two teams in the World Cup Qualifier.