Kolkata : International Cricket Council (ICC) will unveil the schedule for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 today, October 1, in Cape Town. The schedule announcement will be broadcast live on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network from 8:30 PM onwards, marking the one-year countdown to the tournament.
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 is set to commence on October 2, 2027, with the final scheduled for Sunday, November 21, 2027. The event will also mark the opening of the ticket ballot for fans.
Ten of the 14 teams participating in the tournament have secured their spots by the September 30 qualification cut-off. Hosts South Africa and Zimbabwe have earned automatic berths, while eight teams have qualified based on the ICC ODI rankings.
India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are set to join the two hosts. The remaining four spots will be decided through the Qualifiers, scheduled to take place early next year. Two-time champions West Indies will also have to go through the qualification route to secure their place in next year’s tournament.
The schedule announcement comes as India’s stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma set their sights on the 2027 World Cup. Both players have indicated that the upcoming edition is expected to be their final ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup appearance for India.
Rohit Sharma, who led India to ICC Men’s T20 World Cup glory in 2024 in the West Indies and the United States, spoke about his desire to relive the experience of lifting the trophy.
“It’ll be great to win the upcoming ODI World Cup. I wouldn’t think about full circle and all that now. Winning a World Cup for India is a special feeling. I have experienced that twice in the T20 format. In 2007, I was just a young kid of 20 years. Of course, it’s a big tournament; you’ve won a World Cup in your first year, it’s great. Then we won the Champions Trophy in 2013, and after that there was a long period, almost for 11 years, where we couldn’t win an ICC title. So that’s why, when we won the T20 World Cup in 2024, there was a realisation of how important it was. So that feeling is still inside to a great extent. I know what winning a World Cup feels like. So that’s why I want that feeling back. The fun we had, you can’t describe what that feeling is, because you can’t match that. That’s why winning that World Cup is very important to me, because I want to have that feeling again, which we felt recently,” Rohit Sharma said.
Virat Kohli, who lifted the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup trophy with India in 2011, said his motivation is to give his all in what he described as his final World Cup for the country.
“I’m not in a place where I feel like, if it didn’t happen earlier, I have to do it now. But for me, it’s the last World Cup I’m going to play for India. And that is my motivation. Like, to leave everything out there. And of course, the goal is absolutely to win the World Cup. And whatever it takes, I’m absolutely ready. My goal is to win as many games as I can for the team and my dream is to play a match-winning knock in the finals while chasing a score; that would be ideal. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t happen and we win the World Cup, I’ll be just as happy because, eventually, you understand that, as much as that competitive nature is there, it’s the last time you’re getting to play in a World Cup. So, winning that trophy is the most important thing,” Virat Kohli added.
The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2027 schedule announcement will be streamed live on JioHotstar and telecast on Star Sports Network from 8:30 PM today.
