Looming large on the 2011 international cricket calendar is the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup, which will take place on the Asian continent between 19th February and 2nd April. The host nations this year will be India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, with Bangladesh hosting the opening ceremony and India the final. Pakistan, who was also elected to be a host, lost that right following the terrorist attacks that took place in Lahore during the 2009 Sri Lankan tour.
This will be the tenth time that the tournament has taken place, but it will be the first time that it will be hosted in Asia. The defending champions are Australia, who has won the tournament on the last three occasions and on four occasions since the tournament came into being in 1975. Other tournament winners have been the West Indies twice with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka all winning once.
The Australians should, in theory at least, come into the tournament well prepared as they will arrive in the wake of their ODI series against England, which has followed the Ashes series played between the two countries. England too will be well set and looking to add the crown to their Twenty20 World Cup victory which they achieved earlier this year. The nearest England has come to winning the ODI World Cup was finishing runners up three times, in 1979, 1987 and 1992.
The format for the 2011 tournament has change from that of 2007; The 2011 ODI World Cup will see 14 competing teams, divided into two groups of seven, who will play each other on a ‘round robin’ basis. The top four teams from each group will go through to the quarter finals from which time the tournament will be decided on a straight knock out basis. The two groups of seven have been drawn as follows:
Group A
Australia
Canada
Kenya
New Zealand
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Zimbabwe
Group B
Bangladesh
England
India
Ireland
Netherlands
South Africa
West Indies
The World Cup has many startling records and record holders, none more so than that of Sachin Tendulkar. The Indian master batsman, is the highest run scorer of the tournament, with 1796 runs scored between 1992-2007. He also holds the record for the total number of runs scored in an individual tournament with 673 runs scored in 2003. The highest individual score however goes to South African, Gary Kirsten who scored a magnificent 188 in 1996 when playing against the UAE. The Highest average record however lies with Sir Vivian Richards of the West Indies, who averaged over 63 runs per match between 1975 and 1987.
As far as the bowling records are concerned it is Glenn McGrath, Glenn McGrath, Glenn McGrath and Glenn McGrath. The brilliant Australian seamer holds the record of most wickets taken with 71, he has the lowest average of 19.21 runs per wicket, he has the best bowling figures of 7/15, which he took against Namibia in 2003 and he also holds the record of taking most wickets in an individual tournament, which was 26 in 2007.
Adam Gilchrist, the former Australian wicket keeper, holds the record for the most dismissals with 39, while current Australian captain, Ricky Ponting holds the record of most catches with 24.
The highest team score in the World Cup was recorded by India in 2007, who smashed their way to 413 in 2007 against Bermuda, with Virender Sehwag top scoring with 114 of just 86 balls. The lowest score however was the embarrassing 36 that Canada scored in their match against Sri Lanka in 2003.
The cricket world cup odds ahead of the tournament have India as the clear favourites with Australia, Sri Lanka, England and South Africa not far behind. Only two point in the betting separate the the top five with India a 4/1 chance and South Africa and England 6/1. Add Pakistan to the mix at 8/1 and this promises to be a competitive tournament, one of which any of those teams will fancy their chances.
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