ICC drops picture of Shah Rukh Khan with World Cup trophy, goes viral

The opening match of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, featuring defending champions England and runner-up New Zealand, is set to commence on October 5

Mumbai: The combination of Bollywood and cricket has always made for a captivating cocktail, guaranteeing the best of both worlds and enthralling millions.

And, as the country counts down to cricket’s biggest showpiece event, the World Cup, it does appear that ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is well on course to be a sumptuous treat not just for the avid followers of the game but for moviegoers as well.

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On Wednesday night, the official Instagram team of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 dropped a picture in which superstar Shah Rukh Khan is seen adorably staring at the World Cup trophy, just like millions of Indian cricket fans and even players, who have set sights on the game’s greatest prize.

The fact that the cricketing extravaganza will be staged on the familiar home surfaces this year will give the Indians hope of bringing home the coveted trophy for the third time, after 1983 and 2011. The picture of SRK left fans excited.

“Like SRK, our team India can also do comeback and can get this Wc,” a social media user commented.

“King Khan be like :- Itni shiddat hai tumhe chaha hai,” a fan wrote.

“Jawan and the World cup — too much entertainment,” another netizen wrote.

King Khan’s image did suggest that he shot for a special promo for ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

The opening match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, featuring defending champions England and runner-up New Zealand, is set to commence on October 5 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Ten teams will feature in this biggest Cricket World Cup ever, to be played across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the tournament opener and the final. The event will feature 48 matches to be played across 46 days.

India’s World Cup campaign will begin with a match against Australia on October 8 in Chennai.

The venues other than Ahmedabad and Chennai are Bengaluru, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. While Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram will join Hyderabad in hosting the practice games.

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan will square off at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 on October 15 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Eight teams have qualified for the 46-day event through the Cricket World Cup Super League while the final two spots will be taken by the finalists of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier taking place in Zimbabwe.

The tournament retains the round-robin format of last time with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches. There are six-day matches that will start at 10 30 Indian Standard Time (IST) while all other matches, including the knockouts, will be day-night fixtures starting at 14 00 IST.

The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, to be played in Mumbai on 15 November and in Kolkata on 16 November. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.