ICC World Cup 2015 schedule released, India to start title defence against Pakistan

The 2011 world cup champions India will start their title defence against arch-rivals Pakistan at Adelaide on 15th February in the 2015 ICC World cup, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 14th February to 29th March.

The tournament begins on February 14 with Australia and New Zealand playing their first matches in front of their home crowds. New Zealand will face the 1996 World Cup winner Sri Lanka at Christchurch in the tournament opener while later in the day, four-time champions Australia will take on arch-rivals England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

A total of 49 matches will be played in the 44-day tournament across 14 venues in the two countries. Australia will stage 26 matches in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, whilst the 23 matches in New Zealand will be held in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Napier, Nelson and Wellington.

MCC will host the final to be held on 29th March.
The 14 sides (10 Full Members and four qualifiers), as per their rankings on the Reliance ICC ODI Rankings table on 31 December 2012, have been divided into two pools:

Pool A: England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Qualifier 2, Qualifier 3.

Pool B: South Africa, India, Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Qualifier 4.