The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday opened up on the reports of the Indian cricket team using their new saffron-coloured kit for the most-anticipated World Cup 2023 match against Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on October 14.
For the past few days, the Blues have been training with the Netherlands-alike Orange training kit which gave birth to rumours of India using this kit as an alternate, like they did in the 2019 World Cup.
However, an official of BCCI, Ashish Shelar, refused all the reports and claims assuring that India will continue to wear their national colour throughout their World Cup campaign.
“We categorically dismiss the media reports that Team India will be donning an alternative match kit against Pakistan. These reports are absolutely baseless and a work of someone’s imagination. The Men in Blue will sport India colours – Blue at ICC Cricket World Cup 2023,” Shelar said.
It must be noted that in the 2019 World Cup, which was played in England, teams were allowed to use an alternate kit in case of a clash with the opponent team.
India used their alternate dark-blue jersey with orange sleeves during their match against England in the 2019 World Cup while South Africa opted for their yellow jersey for games against Pakistan and Bangladesh.
A total of 10 teams are fighting for the elusive title across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19.
The Cricket World Cup is being played in the round-robin format with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches.
The top four teams will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.
The winners of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will earn US$4 million. The runners-up will receive US$2 million, while the losing semi-finalists will earn $800,000 each from the total prize pot of US$10 million.
The winners of each match in the group stage will receive US$40,000 and the six teams that do not qualify for the semi-finals will receive a payment of US$100,000.