India vs Pakistan tentatively scheduled for October 15

Ahmedabad, home to the world's largest cricket stadium, is all set to host the World Cup encounter between India and Pakistan on October 15th, reported ESPNcricinfo. Given their lack of play time outside global events, games between the Asian neighbors are usually one of the first ones to get sold out.

Further, England and New Zealand, last edition's finalists, will feature in the tournament opener on October 5th. 

Also, India will begin their tournament in a big-ticket clash against Australia, the most successful team in World Cup history, in Chennai. 

These are some of the marquee games in the initial draft schedule shared by the BCCI. The draft scheduled has been shared with the ICC, who then sent it to the participating countries for feedback.

While venues for the semi-finals - likely to be played on November 15 and 16 - are yet to be decided, Ahmedabad will play host to the tournament opener and final.

With the tournament following a round-robin format like the 2019 edition, India will play nine matches in all. Based on the draft schedule, this is what India's itinerary looks like:

India vs Australia, Oct 8, Chennai

India vs Afghanistan, Oct 11, Delhi

India vs Pakistan, Oct 15, Ahmedabad

India vs Bangladesh, Oct 19, Pune

India vs New Zealand, Oct 22, Dharamshala

India vs England, Oct 29, Lucknow

India vs Qualifier, Nov 2, Mumbai

India vs South Africa, Nov 5, Kolkata

India vs Qualifier, Nov 11, Bengaluru

Jay Shah, BCCI secretary, had earlier said that the schedule would be released during the World Test Championship final. While no reason has been provided for the delay, Geoff Allardice, ICC CEO, had gone on record saying the schedule would be out "anytime soon", without divulging any specifics.