Cricket World Cup Host

ICC Mens Cricket World Cup host for the 13th edition is India that will take place between October 05-19. This is the 2nd time India has got the opportunity to host a 50-over ICC's marquee event. It will kick start from 5th October and the final will be played on 19th November.

Cricket World Cup Host: From 1975 to 2023

This will be the first time that India will be hosting the showpiece event on its own. Indeed, India has hosted 3 World Cups in the past, but on each of those occasions, they had to share the hosting duties with the likes of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

The World Cup first came to India (and Asia) in 1987, after the BCCI and PCB won the hosting rights from the likes of Australia, and England.

The 1987 event was the first time that the World Cup was staged outside of the United Kingdom.

Each of the first 3 editions- 1975, 1979, and 1983- was staged in England due to its time zone and requisite facilities.

The 1987 event proved to be a watershed as it not only showed that the subcontinent was more than ready to host a tournament of such magnitude, but it was the only first event where 50-over matches were played.

Five years later, the World Cup moved to Australia and New Zealand, and it brought with it a sea of changes like colored clothing, white balls, and day-night matches.

The World Cup returned to Asia in 1996, but, this time, Sri Lanka also hosted the event, alongside India and Pakistan.

With Sri Lanka amid a Civil War at the time, teams like Australia and the West Indies opted out of their matches in the island nation.

The two semi-finals were played in Mohali and Kolkata, while the final was staged at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, where co-hosts Sri Lanka scripted a fairytale win over Australia.

The 1999 event was once again hosted by England, with the likes of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and Netherlands hosting a select few games.

The 1st World Cup of the 21st century- in 2003- saw the marquee event move to Africa, with South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Kenya assuming hosting duties.

This event, however, was marred with controversies, as the likes of New Zealand and England declined to travel to Kenya and Zimbabwe respectively due to political turmoil in the respective countries.

In addition to this, co-hosts South Africa endured a shock 1st-round exit, which further impacted the enthusiasm for the tournament in the African nation.

However, an amazing run from Team India ensured that the tournament was followed by a billion-plus plus around the world. But, eventually, Australia proved to be too powerful a beast for India to tame as the defending champions thrashed the Ganguly-led unit in the final to claim their 3rd title.

The next edition took place in the Caribbean islands in March 2007, but it again proved to be a lacklustre event due to a multitude of reasons ranging from hosts getting knocked out in the Super-8, the death of Bob Woolmer, shoddy facilities and management from the administrators, which resulted in a large part of games being played in front of empty stadiums, a farcical final, which ended in literal darkness, and subcontinent giants like India and Pakistan getting eliminated in the 1st round.

The inevitability of the final result made it even more boring as Australia romped home to their 3rd consecutive title.

The World Cup returned to Asia once again in 2011, with India sharing hosting rights with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The opening game of the tournament took place between co-hosts India and Bangladesh in Mirpur, while the two semi-finals were staged in Colombo and Mohali.

The iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai staged the boundary count between India and Sri Lanka on April 02, 2011, which the former eventually won by 6 wickets.

This World Cup started the trend of a host nation winning the final on its soil, with co-hosts Australia following suit in 2015.

Hosts England did the same in 2019 amid incredible scenes at Lord's after they tied both the match and the Super-Over to eventually prevail via a superior boundary count.

Will India become the 4th host nation to win the World Cup on home soil in 2023??