2019 World Cup schedule revealed; India vs Pakistan on June 16 in Manchester

The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, which is set to be hosted by England and Wales Cricket Board, is awaiting its final schedule. As reported by ESPN Cricinfo the fixtures are nearly decided, only the formalities will be fulfilled in International Cricket Council’s board meeting today in Kolkata. The World Cup will be played in 10 cities and 11 venues, across the length and breadth of England and Wales. Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will compete in Old Trafford, Manchester on June 16. Not only will the venue also host India's matchup against the Windies and the much awaited Australia-South Africa tie, Old Trafford will also welcome two teams for the first semi-final of the event. 

The Round-Robin format will be introduced again, in 2019 World Cup. The last time the World Cup played in this Round-Robin format was back in 1992 in Australia and New Zealand where it was categorized as one of the most enticing World Cups mostly because of this format. From start to finish that tournament took 33 days. In 2019, the World Cup - with one more team than 1992 and a far smaller geographical area to cover - will take 46 days, or nearly two weeks longer. However, there will be 48 matches in 2019 compared to 39 in 1992. The 2015 World Cup, which had a different format, featured 14 teams playing 49 matches in 44 days.

In an interesting move, most matches including semi-finals and finals are settled for Day encounters. four of the ten teams - England, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - won't play any day-night matches in the round-robin phase. New Zealand will feature in four of the seven day-night matches in the tournament, while Australia and Afghanistan play three each. The semi-finals and final are all day games. 

There are so many things to be noticed once the schedule’s nearly final copy has revealed. One thing such is England’s Home advantage. Hosts England will be desperate to break their World Cup jinx, but unlike other sides, they won't play at the same ground more than once in the round-robin phase. They have matches at The Oval, Nottingham, Cardiff, Southampton, Manchester, Leeds, Lord's, Birmingham and Chester-le-Street. This schedule means they will have played at the three venues holding the knockout games: Manchester, Birmingham, and Lord's. So it will be interesting to see how much benefit they are acquiring from home conditions. 

However, unlike previous editions, the teams will get more days break in between matches. The positives of a longer duration are that sides get more recovery time in between games - some teams have gaps as long as four or five days. Because of a late start in the tournament, India is one of only two teams who will have to play two games in three days - when they take on England on June 30 at Edgbaston and then Bangladesh on July 2 at the same venue. The other team to do the same is Afghanistan, who play India in Southampton on June 22 and then Bangladesh on June 24.

India's 2019 World Cup Schedule

June 5 - India vs South Africa, Southampton

June 9 - India vs Australia, The Oval

June 13 -  India vs New Zealand, Nottingham

June 16 - India vs Pakistan, Manchester

June 22 - India vs Afghanistan, Southampton

June 27 - India vs West-Indies, Manchester

June 30 - India vs England, Birmingham

July 2 - India vs Bangladesh, Birmingham

July 6 - India vs Sri Lanka, Leeds