After weeks of being bombarded by what is certainly the biggest publicity campaign in the history of cricket World Cups, the reason for the hype and hoopla will get underway at Mirpur with two tournament hosts clashing in the opening match of the World Cup 2011.
On the one hand is India - in everybody's list as favourites, having assembled a star-studded line-up, the one-pointed focus of a billion hysterical dreams - and hopefully not feeling buried under the enormous pressure that was always going to be an inevitable by-product of playing the world's biggest tournament in front of the world's most passionate fans.
Match Details
Date:19-02-2011
Time : from 13:00 until 15:30 (CET)
Competition: ODI CRICKET
ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Opening MatchOn the other hand are Bangladesh, who have an impressive giant-killing resume in past World Cups, but remain the underdogs in the opening clash. Bangladesh beat Pakistan in 1999 - a win that led to their eventual Test status - but the victory that is going to be foremost on both teams' minds is the one that happened almost exactly four years ago. On 17th March 2007, Mashrafe Mortaza picked up 4/38, while Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib al Hasan all hit fifties to knock India out of the previous World Cup.
Of the men who tasted that bitter defeat, a sizeable number have the chance to make amends. Sehwag, Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Zaheer and Munaf Patel were all part of the playing eleven four years ago, and are not likely to ever forget that loss. By the same token, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shahriar Nafees, Abdur Razzaq, Mohammad Ahsraful and Shakib al Hasan will have fresh and pleasant memories of the win that propelled them to the second stage of the previous World Cup.
The preparations for India have gone mostly their way, with both warm-ups resulting in wins. A low-scoring scrap against Australia was followed by a romp against New Zealand. India would be wise to not set too high a store by the warm-up performances though, because they won both their warm-up matches in 2007 too. What is different in this Indian team is that it has had a winning feel to it for extended periods. For the first time since 1987, an Indian team is entering the World Cup as a fully legitimate pre-tournament favourite. Not that there aren't areas that need to be worked on - the bowling doesn't pack anywhere near the fire-power that the batting does - but in the absence of a dominant team and with the advantage of home conditions, this India team should be tough to beat on most days.
India will have a tricky task in selecting the final eleven. Given four bowlers and MS Dhoni, there are six spots left for batsmen. Of those, Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir will be automatic picks which leaves three slots. Given Virat Kohli's recent form it is unthinkable to exclude him which means Yuvraj, Raina and Yusuf Pathan will be fighting it out for the final two spots. Yusuf brings the X-factor to the squad and between Raina and Yuvraj, Raina has the better claim after smashing 50 off 26 balls against New Zealand and being a superior fielder to the once-brilliant Yuvraj.
