India will meet defending champions Australia and bitter rivals Pakistan in their first two matches at the 2027 Cricket World Cup, the International Cricket Council announced on Thursday.

The India-Australia match, a repeat of the 2023 final, will be in Cape Town on October 7 and the India-Pakistan clash will take place in Johannesburg three days later.

The tournament, hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, will start on October 4 and the final will be played on November 27.

The group match between India and Pakistan will be played at the Wanderers Stadium, the tournament’s biggest venue and tickets are almost certain to be in high demand.

After a preliminary round to eliminate two of the three lowest-ranked teams, 12 teams will be split into two groups for round-robin matches before the top three in each group, and the best fourth-placed team, qualify for a Super Seven phase, followed by semi-finals and the final.

Because of political tensions between the two countries, India and Pakistan have only played each other in ICC events since Pakistan toured India for three One-day Internationals and two Twenty20 internationals in December 2012.

The rivalry is intense despite India having won all eight matches against Pakistan in Cricket World Cups and eight out of nine in T20 World Cups.

Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and a qualifier will also be in Group ‘A’.