The first match of any big event plays a major role in generating the buzz and hype for the tournament. It is a trend to see the host nation starting the event with a big match in front of a jam-packed crowd. As far as Cricket World Cup is concerned, in 2011, co-hosts Bangladesh and India kicked off the mega event, whereas in 2015, Australia battled England and New Zealand took on Sri Lanka on the opening day of the tournament.
Even in 2022, when it was the ICC T20 World Cup, Australia featured on the first day of Super 12s against Trans-Tasman rivals, New Zealand. Similarly, in 2016 T20 World Cup, hosts India took on New Zealand. In 2019 Cricket World Cup, home team England opened their campaign on the first day against South Africa.
However, there have been two such instances in the mega event’s history, when the opening game of the tournament did not feature the home side or the home team did not play on the first day. Here’s a list of those two tournaments.
1. Cricket World Cup 2023
ICC recently announced the schedule for the World Cup scheduled to happen later this year at an event in Mumbai. The first match of this year’s mega event is a rematch of the previous edition’s final, where defending champions England will square off against two-time finalists New Zealand.
This match will happen at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 5. It is pertinent to note that hosts India will not play in the tournament until October 8, when they take on Australia in Chennai.
2. 1996 World Cup
The only previous World Cup, where the teams hosting the tournament did not feature in the first match, was the one which happened in 1996. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka jointly co-hosted the tournament. Incidentally, the opening match of that tournament was also England vs New Zealand in Ahmedabad. Sri Lanka ended up winning the mega event in 1996.
