ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: Indian team arrives in Dhaka

Indian team led by MS Dhoni on Thursday arrived here amid heavy securityarrangements for their World Cup opener against co-hosts Bangladesh on Saturday.

Rapid action battalion commandos and police personnel escorted the 15-member Indian squad to theSheraton Hotel in two vehicles. The route from the Hazrat Shah Jalal airport to the hotel was heavily guarded by the police.

Pune fans give cricket Cricket World Cup 2011 opener a miss

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 is just two days away, but Puneites do not seem interested to travel to Bangladesh to cheer Team India on February 19. Travel agencies said so far no one from the city has made any bookings for Bangladesh.

“People do not want to go to Bangladesh, probably because it is not a tourist hot spot. Besides, tickets for the first match are not available online and have to be purchased from retail outlets in Bangladesh. This could be another reason why not many are interested to travel to the country,” said Rahul Jagtap, a traveller counsellor with Girikand Travels.

Cricket World Cup: Odds favour Asian giants

The guessing game has received a fresh impetus with the ICC Cricket World Cup scheduled to start this weekend in Dhaka with India taking on Bangladesh. But first up, it will take a brave heart to forecast or predictthe winner although in myopinion, the odds seem to favour the three sub-continental giants - India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan - far more than others.

The huge advantages the trio enjoy include familiar playing conditions and the crowd support. While teams such as Australia, South Africa and England seem to put all their eggs in the pace and seam baskets, I feel, it will be the spinners who will be calling the tune given the low bounce and turn the pitches are likely to afford.

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ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 opening ceremony in Dhaka today, Bryan Adams to perform first

The grand six weeks sporting marathon is all warmed up and gleaming in the glory for inauguration. ICC Cricket World Cup 2011opening ceremony has scheduled for Thursday at Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh. This 10th edition of the showpiece is joined with co-hosts India and Sri Lanka.

This biggest event returns to the subcontinent after 15 years and is ready to allure the cricket fans with its beautiful charisma. The famous Canadian Rockstar Bryan Adams is all set to rock the stage first, alongwith Indian singing trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Sonu Nigam to show their magnificence in the two-hour longprogram of song, dance and laser shows at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

After the opening, two days later Bangladesh and co-hosts India has to clash at the inaugural game at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium at Mirpur, on the Dhaka's outskirts to trumpet the beginning of 43 days of action spread across 13 venues in three countries.

Sri Lanka one among the three hosts of ICC world Cup 2011 will than start off their endeavor in the journey of World Cup 2011, against lowly Canada in a Group A in Colombo on Sunday.