The FIH Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup Bhubaneswar and Rourkela 2023 is set to begin on January 13, 2023, with Argentina facing South Africa in the tournament opener.
India made a strong start in the prestigious tournament with their performance in the Super 12s, winning four out of their five matches and finishing at the top of Group 2.
The top 16 nations' entries have been revealed, with Team Greece, comprised of world No 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas and world No 6 Maria Sakkari, being seeded first.
Before this semifinal, both Azam and Rizwan struggled for runs in the tournament. Azam had scored 39 runs in five innings while Rizwan had also managed only 103 runs in five innings prior to this semifinal match.
Yadav, who totals 225 runs in the tournament so far, scored 30 against Bangladesh and a match-winning 61 off 25 balls against Zimbabwe to add six rating points to his tally and reach a career-best 869 points, 39 more than Pakistan's Mohammad Rizwan. Devon Conway of New Zealand is 90 points a
New Zealand have thrashed the hosts Australia and have wins in all matches of the tournament except one. One of their games was washed out. Pakistan are coming into the game after three back-to-back wins.
The first semifinal of the tournament between New Zealand and Pakistan will take place on Wednesday at Sydney. On the other hand, the second semifinal between India and England will take place in Adelaide on Thursday
The franchise-style cricket tournament for amateurs, to be held annually, will provide a unique opportunity for up-and-coming cricketers from all over India including Tier 2, 3 and 4 cities and rural areas to showcase their talent alongside players from larger Indian cities