Host selection On 11 December 2017, India was announced by the ICC as hosts of the 2023 Cricket World Cup; while India had served as a co-host during three previous tournaments (most recently in
2011, which it co-hosted with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), it would mark the first Cricket World Cup to be hosted solely by India, and the first to be solely hosted one nation since
1979.
COVID-19 pandemic Originally, the competition was to be played from 9 February to 26 March 2023. In July 2020, it was announced that due to the disruption of the qualification schedule by the
COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the tournament would be delayed to October 2023. The ICC released the tournament schedule on 27 June 2023.
Format This was the first ICC World Cup in which penalties for slow over-rates were given to bowling teams if they did not complete their 50 overs in the stipulated time. On-field umpires could penalise the bowling team by not allowing more than four fielders outside the 30-yard circle.
Pakistan's participation The
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had threatened to boycott the tournament after the
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refused to send a team to the
2023 Asia Cup scheduled in Pakistan. This issue was resolved in June 2023 after the
Asian Cricket Council announced that the tournament would be hosted using a hybrid model proposed by the PCB, with nine of the 13 matches in the competition played in Sri Lanka.
Prize money The ICC allocated a pool of US$10 million in prize money for the tournament, with payouts remaining the same as the 2019 and 2015 tournaments. Australia, the winning team, received US$4,000,000, the runner-up $2,000,000 and the losing semi-finalists $1,600,000. Teams that did not progress past the league stage received $100,000 and the winner of each league stage match received $40,000.
Marketing The ICC hosted a trophy tour for 100 days prior to the tournament beginning 27 June 2023, with the
Cricket World Cup Trophy being taken to various locations around the world. The event began with the launching of the trophy into the
stratosphere by
Sent Into Space and landing at Modi Stadium—becoming the first sports trophy to have ever been sent into space. The ICC officially announced the mascots for the World Cup in August. The mascots were a male and female duo named "Tonk" and "Blaze" from the fictional cricketing utopia "Crictoverse". Ahead of the tournament, it was reported that an opening ceremony would take place on 4 October 2023 at the
Narendra Modi Stadium in
Ahmedabad, a day before the opening match at the same venue. The official theme song of the 2023 Cricket World Cup titled "Dil Jashn Bole" () was released on 20 September. The song was composed by
Pritam, and was sung by Pritam,
Nakash Aziz,
Sreerama Chandra,
Amit Mishra,
Jonita Gandhi,
Akasa Singh and
S. P. Charan. However, the song was subject to backlash and bad reviews. The opening ceremony was cancelled and replaced by a closing ceremony ahead of the final. During this a
drone show was held. ==Qualification==