The cricket carnival begins
Four years after delivering the most memorable final in World Cup history, England and New Zealand will face off once again in cricket's grandest stage in the opening match of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 today.
The match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will kick-start the 46-day cricketing extravaganza where 10 teams will fight it out in 48 matches in 10 venues across India for the right to be called the best ODI team in the world.
With the match, the 50-over World Cup will return to the sub-continent after 2011, when India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka jointly hosted the event.
In that edition, the tournament kicked off with a glitzy opening ceremony -- seeped in local tradition -- at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.
However, there was no opening ceremony for this edition of the World Cup. Instead, there was a Captain's Day event held on Wednesday in Ahmedabad where the captains of all participating teams were present.
Eoin Morgan, who lifted the trophy as the England captain in 2019 after the hosts won the final on boundary count, hosted the event alongside former India coach Ravi Shastri.
Joss Buttler, the captain of the defending champions England and who was Morgan's deputy in 2019, credited his former captain for instilling the fearlessness the English ODI side currently exhibit and said England will continue playing the same way in India as well.
"The team's been mainly together for a long time since 2015, since the start of that sort of revolution that you mentioned, and I think you said right through the game. Now in England, young players coming through play a certain way and are determined to carry on the style, and I think we know it gives us the best chance of success.
"We will get it wrong at times, but we've made peace with that, and it's something we want to continue to strive to do, to keep pushing the boundaries. Other teams will push you and move it on further, so we always want to try and be at the head of that curve as well," Butler said.
New Zealand, on the other hand, come into this tournament as back-to-back World Cup runners-up.
Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson, who won't be playing in the opening match as his knee is still not hundred per cent, said that his team is looking forward to the fresh challenge that lies ahead in India.
"For us, it's about the style of cricket we want to keep committing to that gives us the best chance at putting out our best performance. It certainly has been full of different challenges over a number of tournaments we have been involved in. We are already excited for the challenges that lie ahead for this one," said Williamson.
Former champions Pakistan will take on the Netherlands on Friday while Bangladesh will begin their campaign on Saturday by taking on Afghanistan in Dharamshala.
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