The 2011 Cricket World Cup will be the 10th version of this prestigious tournament and it will be hosted by three cricket playing nations in South Asia: India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It is the first occasion for Bangladesh that they are co-hosting the Cricket World Cup. The 2011 Cricket World Cup will be following the One Day International (ODI) Pattern of cricket and 14 teams will participate in the tournament.
The World Cup will start on February 19 and continue till April 2, 2011. The first match has been scheduled to be played on February 19, 2011 and it will be played between India and Bangladesh at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium at Mirpur, Dhaka.
Opening Ceremony of 2011 Cricket World Cup
The opening ceremony of the world cup will take place on February 17, 2011, two days ahead of the beginning of the tournament. The venue for the opening ceremony of the world cup is Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The final is scheduled to be played on April 2, 2011 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Format of the World Cup
In 2007, the host countries concurred about a modified format for the World Cup to be held in 2011, which is similar to the 1996 Cricket World Cup. The sole difference is that in 1996, there were 12 teams and in 2011 version of the game, there are 14 teams. The first round of the World Cup will be a round robin where 14 teams will be split into two groups of seven teams each. All the seven teams will play one another once and the best performing four teams will be eligible for the quarterfinal matches. The format makes sure that every team gets the opportunity to play at least six matches although they are excluded from the tournament because of early losses.
Teams for the 2011 Cricket World Cup
The teams for the world cup are as follows:
Group A
Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka
Australia
Canada
Kenya
New Zealand
Pakistan
Group B
Bangladesh
England
India
Ireland
Netherlands
South Africa
West Indies
Umpires for the World Cup
The following umpires will officiate in the upcoming cricket tournament:
Australia
Steve Davis
Simon Taufel
Daryl Harper
Rod Tucker
Bruce Oxenford
New Zealand
Tony Hill
Billy Bowden
South Africa
Marais Erasmus
Pakistan
Asad Rauf
Aleem Dar
India
Amish Saheba
Shavir Tarapore
England
Richard Kettleborough
Ian Gould
Nigel Llong
Sri Lanka
Kumar Dharmasena
Asoka de Silva
West Indies
Billy Doctrove from Dominica
Venues for the World Cup
The venues of the forthcoming world cup are given below:
India
Eden Gardens - Capacity: 82,000 (being upgraded)
M. A. Chidambaram Stadium - Capacity: 46,000 (being upgraded)
Feroz Shah Kotla - Capacity: 48,000
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium - Capacity: 35,000
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium Bangalore Capacity- : 42,000
Sri Lanka
R. Premadasa Stadium - Capacity: 35,000 (being upgraded)
Muttiah Muralitharan International Cricket Stadium - Capacity: 35,000
(new stadium)
Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium - Capacity: 37,000 (new stadium)
Bangladesh
Chittagong Divisional Stadium - Capacity: 20,000
Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium - Capacity: 35,000
Trophy
The ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy is a running trophy and it is awarded to the winning team from 1999. It was devised by Garrard & Co in only a period of two months. The ICC keeps the original trophy at its head office in Dubai. The winning team is awarded a replica. The only dissimilarity between the two trophies is that the original trophy has the names of all the past winners emblazoned on it.
Prize money
The winner of this edition of the cricket world cup would be getting a jackpot of US$ 3 million and for the runner-up, the prize money is US$ 1.5 million. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has made a decision to double the overall allotment for the popular tournament to US$ 10 million. It was decided at the board meeting of ICC, which took place on April 20, 2010 in Dubai.