World Cup warm-ups: India begin against England; Pakistan take on NZ

Less than 72 hours after they finish their three-match ODI series in Rajkot, India and Australia will begin their final round of dress rehearsals for the World Cup with warm-ups against England and Netherlands respectively on September 30.

Pakistan, meanwhile, will warm-up against New Zealand on September 29, while South Africa take on Afghanistan. Bangladesh will play against Sri Lanka.

While India travel far east to Guwahati for their first warm-up, Australia will fly down south to Trivandrum. Both these sides, along with Afghanistan and New Zealand have warm-ups scheduled in different cities.

The other six teams will all be stationed in one city for their warm-ups. Hyderabad plays host to Pakistan, while Guwahati hosts England, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The southern coastal town of Trivandrum will host Netherlands and South Africa.

India and Pakistan will round off the tournament's warm-ups by playing Netherlands and Australia respectively in the final day on October 3, before the teams disperse towards their respective venues for their tournament opener. All warm-up games are day-night fixtures that will commence at 2pm local time, with all 15 members of the playing squad permitted to play.

The captains' event will be held on October 4, a day before the tournament proper begins on October 5 in Ahmedabad with defending champions England taking on New Zealand, the runners-up from 2019. Hosts India open their campaign against Australia in Chennai on October 8.

On Wednesday, the ICC also announced the official ticketing partners, while confirming the pre-sale of tickets for the tournament from August 24, which is 42 days before the start of the tournament.