A SPECTACULAR opening ceremony heralded the start of the 2011 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh on Thursday.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy was among the 14 team captains who took centre during the three-hour cultural and musical presentation.
One of the highlights was a high-class mini concert by Canadian rock star Bryan Adams, who was specially invited to perform at the event.
Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, officially opened the tournament.
The ceremony also included performances by some of the sub-continent’s brightest star performers, including Chayanot, Sonu Nigam, Iraj Weeraratne, Runa Laila, Sabina Yasmin, Momtaz and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.
There were also cultural displays and dancing featuring the three host nations – India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – and a spectacular fireworks display to climax proceedings.
ICC president Sharad Pawar said that February 17, 2011 will go down as a “historic day” for Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
Pawar welcomed the invited guests, players, match officials, media and the people of Bangladesh to embrace the event and make sure it is the most memorable in history.
“Today is a historic day when the people of Bangladesh join India and Sri Lanka together to host the ICC Cricket World Cup, and make this tournament the most memorable yet,” he said.
“Tonight we welcome the captains of the world’s top 14 teams to the opening ceremony of the 10th ICC Cricket World Cup. One of these captains before us tonight will stand in the magnificent new Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 2 and receive the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy. On behalf of the ICC, I wish you all the very best of luck.”
“The ICC Cricket World Cup, our flagship event, provides the stage on which players have the rare opportunity to create legend and to write their own chapter in the history of this great sport.”
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be played across 13 cities in three countries over the next seven weeks starting at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium on Saturday and culminating with the grand finale in Mumbai on April 2. (windiescricket.com)
