ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 – Opening Ceremony

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be an extravaganza in itself. It is one of the biggest cricketing events in the history of cricket. The grand opening ceremony of this world cup held at Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka on February 17, 2010 started with great pomp and show. In total, an amount of 30 million dollar has been spent to make it as a grandiose event. Around 40,000 people were fascinated by the vibrant carnival. The welcoming speech was given by Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina. Great Canadian rock star Bryan Adams and trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy were the highlight of this flashy ceremony. The official song of the world cup was sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Divya Kumar. “De Ghum Ke”(whack it with all your might) is the theme song in three different languages Hindi, English and Bengali. Lady singers of Bangladesh Sabina Yasmin, Runa Laila and Mumtaz sang their chart-bursting numbers along with soothing voice of Sonu Nigam from India. It was quite excitement when the 14 captains of the participating teams paraded in the rickshaw ride with the usual laser and firecracker as well as a message from the UN AIDs ties up through children. Former Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly, ICC President Sharad Pawar Sri Lankan cricket board president Nishanth Ranathunga also made it to this gala event. Everyone is waiting for the action which starts with in-form India versus home support Bangladesh on Feb 19th 2011.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Schedule

The ICC World Cup 2011, is scheduled from 19 February, 2011 to 2 April, 2011 will be hosted by three South Asian Countries (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh). India will host maximum of the matches in the World Cup Tournament. India with 29 matches out of 46 and the Sri Lanka will host 12 of the rest and remaining by Bangladesh.

Feb 19:  Bangladesh v India, Dhaka
Feb 20:  New Zealand v Kenya, Chennai
Feb 20:  Sri Lanka v Canada, Hambantota
Feb 21:  Australia v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad
Feb 22:  England v Netherlands, Nagpur
Feb 23:  Pakistan v Kenya, Hambantota
Feb 24:  South Africa v West Indies, New Delhi
Feb 25:  Australia v New Zealand, Nagpur
Feb 25:  Bangladesh v Ireland, Dhaka
Feb 26:  Sri Lanka v Pakistan, Colombo
Feb 27:  India v England, Kolkata
Feb 28:  West Indies v Netherlands, New Delhi
Feb 28:  Zimbabwe v Canada, Nagpur
March 1:  Sri Lanka v Kenya, Colombo
March 2:  England v Ireland, Bangalore
March 3:  South Africa v Netherlands, Mohali
March 3:  Pakistan v Canada, Colombo
March 4:  New Zealand v Zimbabwe, Ahmedabad
March 4:  Bangladesh v West Indies, Dhaka
March 5:  Sri Lanka v Australia, Colombo
March 6:  India v Ireland, Bangalore
March 6:  England v South Africa, Chennai
March 7:  Kenya v Canada, New Delhi
March 8:  Pakistan v New Zealand, Pallekele
March 9:  India v Netherlands, New Delhi
March 10:  Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Pallekele
March 11:  West Indies v Ireland, Mohali
March 11:  Bangladesh v England, Chittagong
March 12:  India v South Africa, Nagpur
March 13:  New Zealand v Canada, Mumbai
March 13:  Australia v Kenya, Bangalore
March 14:  Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Pallekele
March 14:  Bangladesh v Netherlands, Chittagong
March 15:  South Africa v Ireland, Kolkata
March 16:  Australia v Canada, Bangalore
March 17:  England v West Indies, Chennai
March 18:  Sri Lanka v New Zealand, Mumbai
March 18:  Ireland v Netherlands, Kolkata
March 19:  Australia v Pakistan, Colombo
March 19:  Bangladesh v South Africa, Dhaka
March 20:  Zimbabwe v Kenya, Kolkata
March 20:  India v West Indies, Chennai
March 23:  Quarter-final, Dhaka
March 24:  Quarter-final, Colombo
March 25:  Quarter-final, Dhaka
March 26:  Quarter-final, Ahmedabad
March 29:  Semi-final, Colombo
March 30:  Semi-final, Mohali
April 2:      Final, Mumbai