The New Zealand and England teams arrived in the city on Tuesday late afternoon from Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati, respectively, ahead of the World Cup opener on Thursday.
The teams will have one day of training on Wednesday at the Narendra Modi Stadium. It is also understood that there won’t be an elaborate opening ceremony this time, with just a photoshoot featuring the ten captains at the ground on Wednesday afternoon, followed by a media session.
Apart from the World Cup opener, the world’s largest cricket stadium will host other marquee matches, including India vs Pakistan, England vs Australia and the final on November 19.
Workers busy as preparation is in full swing at the world’s biggest Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium which hosts the opening match on October 05, between champion England and New Zealand as well as the final on November 19, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Tuesday, October 03, 2023. | Photo Credit: VIJAY SONEJI / The Hindu.
On Tuesday, the ground staff were giving the finishing touches to get the venue ready for the opener and sprucing up the place with new wall photographs chronicling India’s two World Cup-winning moments.
An aspect that teams have been preparing for ahead of the World Cup is the dew factor, which could come into play in the opening game. It is learnt that there has been dew on the outfield for the last few days, and the ground staff will use the ASPA80 anti-dew spray on the morning of the match if needed.
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Three pitches at the centre of differing types - black soil, red soil and one mixture of red and black soil - will be used for the five matches.
During the IPL, the venue saw a lot of high-scoring games, with totals of 200 chased comfortably, and the pitches for the World Cup, too, are expected to be similar.
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