India At ICC World Cup 2023: Full Schedule, Fixtures List, Venues And Squad

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 started with New Zealand hammering defending champions England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Indian cricket fans will have to wait for two more days to see their favourite team India in action. Three more matches - Pakistan vs Netherlands, Bangladesh vs Afghanistan and South Africa vs Sri Lanka are scheduled to be played before the Rohit Sharma-led team faces Australia in their tournament opener.

India will face Australia in the 5th match of the ODI World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on October 8.

Giving a strong indication of him turning up in India's World Cup opener against Australia on Sunday, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin went through an engaging net session in Chennai on Thursday.

Ashwin could be included as the third spinner behind Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav against the Aussies ahead of pacer Shardul Thakur considering a possibly gripping pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, and his hold over veterans David Warner and Steve Smith.

After facing the Aussies, India will take on Afghanistan in Delhi. Then, India will take on arch-rivals Pakistan in one of the most awaited clashes of the tournament. The 1.3 lakh capacity Narendra Modi Stadium is expected to be a full house on October 14 when the two teams play.

Team India will play all their nine group stage matches at nine different venues across the country. After Ahmedabad, they will travel to Pune to face Bangladesh on October 19.

India will then face New Zealand in Dharamshala on October 19, England in Lucknow on Octobber 29, Sri Lanka at Wankhade Stadium in Mumbai on November 2, South Africa in Kolkata on November and Netherlands at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in their last group stage match on November 12.

Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.

Skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul will lead the batting department. Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami will handle the pace department along with all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur.

The spin unit will be led by left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, off spinner R Ashwin and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Ishan Kishan will be the second wicketkeeper in the side while Suryakumar Yadav is there as a specialised finisher.

Ahead of the World Cup 2023, the Indian team won the Asia Cup 2023 in Sri Lanka and defeated Australia 2-1 in the three-match ODI series at home. The World Cup warm-up matches against England and Netherlands were washed away due to rain.

(With PTI inputs)