Cup Brims Over

Written by Muhammad Omar Iftikhar • March 2011

In 1975 when the debut Cricket World Cup (CWC) was held in England with eight teams and fifteen matches, it was considered to be a huge step forward providing cricketing nations the motivation to play their best in the pursuit to become world champions. Thirty-six years down the road, the World Cup has become a global phenomenon. Since the debut event, the number of participants has almost doubled from eight to fourteen, matches have increased from fourteen to forty-nine; and the six week long extravaganza attracts millions of viewers which transforms the host nation(s) into a carnival with a huge influx of tourists, tons of enthusiasm and loads of revenue.

In the nine contested events from 1975 to 2007, Australia was the dominating team by becoming champions four times - in 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007; West Indies has won the Cup twice in 1975 and 1979; while India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won it once each in 1983, 1992 and 1996 respectively.
The 2011 Cricket World Cup, the tenth edition of the tournament, is currently underway in South Asia with matches being played in the three co-hosting nations; India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This is the first time for Bangladesh to serve as co-host of the World Cup. Pakistan was among the co-hosts of the 2011 World Cup but in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in April 2009 and also due to the prevailing unrest in the country, the ICC took back the hosting rights from Pakistan. Had things gone smoothly, Pakistan would not only have given its cricket fans a treat but would also have had established its image in the world as a peace loving country.

The 2011 World Cup started on February 19, 2011 when the first match was played between India and Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium, Dhaka. The final would be played on April 2, 2011 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. The format being followed in the 2011 World Cup is the same as that of the 1996 event. The fourteen participating teams have been divided into two groups with seven teams each. Group A consists of New Zealand, Australia, Zimbabwe, Canada, Pakistan, Kenya and co-hosts Sri Lanka, while Group B comprises West Indies, South Africa, England, Netherlands, Ireland and hosts India and Bangladesh.

These teams would be playing at thirteen venues across three nations. The stadiums in India are Eden Gardens, Kolkata; Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi; Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad; M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai; Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai; Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali; M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore and the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur. In Sri Lanka, the three stadiums are the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo along with two new stadiums built exclusively for the event which are the Muttiah Muralitharan International Cricket Stadium, Kandy and Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota. Two stadiums are featuring in the World Cup in Bangladesh which are the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium, Dhaka and Chittagong Divisional Stadium, Chittagong.

The 2011 Cup would certainly have its share of upsets and memorable team and individual performances. With fourteen nations fighting for cricket supremacy and going head-to-head in forty-nine matches, people have their favorites and wild card entries for the grand prize in cricket, but only time will tell which team come through the battle of skills, wits and sportsmanship and become the next World Cricket champion.