The warm-up matches for the Cricket World Cup 2023 will begin on Friday. The 10 teams will each play two official 50-over contests during the week leading up to the start of the World Cup on October 5. The matches will be held in three different cities across India. According to ICC, the teams will be allowed to field all members of their 15-player squads during the matches.
On Friday, Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka in Guwahati, South Africa will play against Afghanistan in Thiruvananthapuram and Pakistan will face New Zealand in Hyderabad. Bangladesh are coming into the World Cup after losing the 3 match ODI series to New Zealand. It is important to note that many their senior players were rested. Sri Lanka's confidence was dented by India in the final of the Asia Cup 2023 when they were bundled out for 50 runs. Earlier this week, Sri Lanka were forced to leave out star spinner Wanindu Hasaranga from their 15-member squad for the upcoming tournament in India due to a hamstring injury. The leg-spinner will miss the entire tournament after sustaining a thigh strain during last month's play-offs of the Lankan Premier League, where he finished as the top run-scorer with 279 runs and the leading wicket-taker with 19 scalps. Sri Lanka announced their World Cup squad just two days prior the ICC cut off date of September 28. All-rounder Dasun Shanaka will lead the team and Kusal Mendis will be his deputy. Among other players, pacer Dushmantha Chameera has failed to recover from his shoulder injury and was not included in the WC squad. Despite Hasaranga and Chameera's loss, Sri Lanka named a fairly balanced side.
Bangladesh also announced their 15-man squad on the same day as Sri Lanka. Bangladesh will be led by all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan which will also be his last stint as the unit's leader. Shakib has said that he wants to call time on his illustrious international career after the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Talking to T-Sports, as reported by ESPNCricinfo, Shakib said, "The 2025 Champions Trophy for ODIs and the 2024 T20 World Cup for T20Is. Tests may be sooner. Maybe (after the World Cup). I will retire all at once, but I will stop playing each format one by one. I will announce my retirement after the 2025 Champions Trophy."
