World Cup 2023: India to travel 8,361 km to play 9 league games in 9 cities

The Indian team led by Rohit Sharma will be the most travelled team among top contenders in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023, covering a distance of approximately 8,400 km while crisscrossing nine cities for nine league games in 34 days.

In case India reaches the semi-final and then the final, the distance covered would be close to 9,700 km for 11 games in 42 days.

While 8,400 kms in 34 days might not seem a lot, considering that Indian players will finish their games around 11 pm and will have a flight to catch every third day, it indeed becomes very tiresome after gruelling 100 over games.

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When the Indian team plays at home, it usually travels by charter flights and not by commercial flights which reduces the duration and distance travelled considerably but business class is not available always. Little leg space will make it tough for fast bowlers.

India is the only team that will play league games in each of the nine cities. All other prominent teams play at least two games in one city.

Hence once the team lands in Chennai for the Australia game, the aerial distance traversed will be in this order: Chennai to Delhi (1,761 km), Delhi to Ahmedabad (775 km), Ahmedabad to Pune (516 km), Pune to Dharamsala (1,936 km), Dharamsala to Lucknow (748 km), Lucknow to Mumbai (1,190 km), Mumbai to Kolkata (1,652 km) and Kolkata to Bengaluru (1,544 km).

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The cumulative distance travelled is 8361 km.

“In case of Indian team, you cant deny any of the nine associations a chance to watch their stars in action. You had to accommodate each and every member association and hence it’s a bit choc-a-bloc,” a BCCI official told PTI on Tuesday.

Also, the schedule is such that the players won’t get any time for net sessions between the games as there is hardly a three-day gap.

Most sessions will be optional ones keeping the physical condition of players in mind.

Security makes it easy for Pakistan

Pakistan are scheduled to play two games each in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru. The only single-city game for Pakistan is in Ahmedabad where they take on India in a high-stakes match on October 15.

While Rohit and his players will travel extensively, Babar Azam’s side will travel around 6849 km. More importantly it will get a week each in two cities – Hyderabad at the start of the tournament and Chennai during the final week of October.

Pakistan will play their first two matches (October 6,12) against two Qualifiers in Hyderabad.

They will travel from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad (876 km), Ahmedabad to Bengaluru (1235), Bengaluru to Chennai (284 km), Chennai to Kolkata (1366 km), Kolkata to Bengaluru (1544 km) and Bengaluru to Kolkata (1544 km).

While security is one of the reasons that Pakistan gets to play in three South Indian and one Eastern Indian city, it helps to acclimatize better with conditions by spending more time in a city.

Australia get a week in Lucknow

Australia, the five-time champions, also travel way less compared to India with a week’s stay in Lucknow between October 9 and 16 where they play South Africa and a Qualifier.
The total distance travelled by Australia is 6907 km. Their travelling itinerary is Chennai to Lucknow (1534 km), Lucknow to Bengaluru (1578 km), Bengaluru to Delhi (1740 km), Delhi to Dharamsala (409 km), Dharamsala to Ahmedabad (1087), Ahmedabad to Mumbai (441 km) and Mumbai to Pune (118 km).

England travel nearly as much as India

The defending champions England is another team that travels nearly as much as India with no two back-to-back games in a single city. The Jos Buttler-led team, though, has two games scheduled in Ahmedabad.

England travel around 8,171 km. They go from Ahmedabad to Dharamsala (1,162 km), Dharamsala to Delhi (409 km), Delhi to Mumbai (1,148 km), Mumbai to Bengaluru (841 km), Bengaluru to Lucknow (1,578 km), Lucknow to Ahmedabad (942 km), Ahmedabad to Pune (516 km) and Pune to Kolkata (1575 km).

(With agency inputs)