After Ahmedabad, England travel north to Dharamsala to play Bangladesh on October 10, and then to Delhi to take on Afghanistan on October 14. Their fourth fixture is against South Africa in Mumbai on October 21, followed by a game against a qualifier in Bengaluru on October 26.
England then travel north again to play India in Lucknow on October 29 before returning to Ahmedabad for the match against Australia on November 4. Their last two matches are against the other qualifier in Pune on November 8 and then against Pakistan.
The format will be the same as it was in 2019, with ten teams playing each other once in the league phase and the top four qualifying for the semi-finals. India qualified for the event as hosts, while Afghanistan, Australia, England, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa made it by finishing in the top eight of the 2020-2023 World Cup Super League. The remaining two qualifiers will be identified at the ongoing World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe, which is being played by Sri Lanka, West Indies, Ireland, Nepal, Netherlands, Oman, Scotland, UAE, USA and Zimbabwe.
The World Cup schedule was finally released by the ICC and BCCI at an event in Mumbai on Tuesday, just 100 days before the start of the tournament on October 5. In comparison, the fixtures for the 2019 World Cup in England and the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand were released more than 12 months in advance.
England are the first men’s team to hold both the ODI and T20I World Cup trophies and will warm up for their title defence with practice games between September 29 and October 3.