Ahmedabad (Gujarat):

Ahead of the start of the ODI World Cup in India on Thursday, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah announced that the cricket apex body in India will provide free mineral and packaged drinking water for all the fans in the stadium.

Jay Shah took to his official X (formerly known as Twitter) account to announce the decision made by the BCCI and said that all the spectators at stadiums across the nation will get mineral and packaged drinking water without any cost.

Mr Shah also asked the cricket fans in the country to stay hydrated and enjoy the ODI World Cup matches.

Exciting times ahead as we anticipate the first ball of @ICC@cricketworldcup 2023 !

I am proud to announce that we’re providing FREE mineral and packaged drinking water for spectators at stadiums across India. Stay hydrated and enjoy the games!

Let’s create… pic.twitter.com/rAuIfV5fCR

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) October 5, 2023

The inaugural match of the extravagant tournament will be played on Thursday between England and New Zealand at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad at 2 PM IST.

Before the start of the first match of the tournament, England skipper Jos Buttler said that star English player Ben Stokes might not be included in the playing eleven since he has received a slight niggle in his hip.

Buttler also added that the decision will be taken before the start of the game, and if he fails to recover then Stokes won’t be [playing in the ODI World Cup.

“He’s got a slight sort of niggle in his hip, fingers crossed it will be good news for us. We’ll make the right call. If he’s not fit to play he’s not fit to play and if he is we can make that decision,” Buttler said as quoted by Sky Sports.

Earlier, Ben Stokes missed out on the World Cup warmup match against Bangladesh on Monday, in which England clinched a four-wicket win against Bangladesh.

However, Rohit Sharma-led Men in Blue will start their ODI World Cup campaign on Sunday against Australia at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)