In just few hours, the 11th edition of the World Cup makes its beginning in the subcontinent on Saturday, with the first match of the tournament being played tomorrow between the co-hosts India and Bangladesh at Mirpur, in former’s territory. The 2011 tournament, which takes place in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is under threat because of the enormous popularity of Twenty20 cricket.
The cricket fever has gripped the nation with all the matches will be telecast live by the premier sports channel, ESPN. Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) expects that the Indian Inc’s productivity will nosedive in the next 42 days. Bollywood industry has taken enough care to avert possible loss against screening the movies during the stages of the big event.
The winner of the tournament would be walking away with a prize money of $ 3 million and the new runners-up will get $1.5 million. Each of the semi-finalists will get $750,000. The mega tournament is expected to produce pulsating contest between the top teams. In the given format, 14 teams are divided into two groups of seven and after a round-robin section the top four from each group will progress to the quarter-finals. Super Eight Phase has been done away with in the existing format.
Three-time Defending champions Australia face Zimbabwe on Monday while England faces the Netherlands on Tuesday.
Indian team, fresh from recent test drawn series against the Proteas, is poised to win the cup for the second time in its cricketing history. The most terrorizing batsman in the ODI circuit, Yousuf Pathan, the new addition to the team brings hopes for the team’s success. Evidently, star batsman Sachin Tendulkar plays his last World Cup.
Australian Team , led by Ricky Ponting, is confident of regaining the title it won in the last two world cups. However, during the preceding six months, the Australian team’s supremacy in the game has waned a lot with test series losses to India, Eng . However, it overcame the biggest disappointment of conceding the Ashes to Eng, to win the ODI series. This time around Aus does not boast of match winning players. Crucial players like Mike Hussey, Nathan Hauritiz’s miss-up from the team’s line-up has only compounded the problems of the team. Aus has not lost a World Cup match after the 1999 world cup.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who will handle the reins of ODI team to fellow team player Both, after the tournament, is determined this time to have the first world title added in the kitty of South Africa after several near misses. The South African team has a plenty of match winners in its fold. To name a few, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Jacques Kallis, Hashin Amla form part of the successful combination of team over the past few months.
Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan Off-spinner, is also appearing for the last time for his team in a world cup match.
England skipper Andrew Strauss believes the fortunes of his side depend how quickly adapt to the sub-continent conditions. Middle-order dashing batsman, Kevin Pietersen, for the first time in his ODI career, is going to open the innings for Eng. Jonathan Trott is the fast rising player in the ranks of the Eng team. He played a pivotal role in Eng’s recent Ashes drubbing of the Aussies.
Pakistan team though ravaged by match-fixing scandal, has sizeable match winners in its arsenal. Opening batsman Ahmed Shezad, middle order bat Umar Akmal along with explosive players like Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq form part of the strong Pakistan team.
