As Cricket is the only Religion which unites all in the subcontinent, the Inauguration at Dacca went on well.
Despite the boring speeches by the politicians, a massive 25 K crowd enjoyed the grand ceremony. Bollywood Music, Bryan Adams show, Bangladesh Music and cultural shows by Lankan artists etc impressed all.
The whole ceremony was moving, as it was fascinating. Sonu Nigam crooning an English song and Shankar-Ehsan-Loy impressed with the WC song.
Sheikh Hasina, the PM of Bangladesh, declared the WC 2011 open. This was BD's defining hour, when the whole world's attention was drawn to this culturally rich nation.
1971 saw the birth of Bangladesh and she is rising in all spheres. In cricket, her side is showing signs of class. She is also rising economically with an estimated GDP of $ 105 billion.
There are complaints that the 50 over format is dying but such a theory looked out of place in beautiful Bangladesh. When Shakib al Hasan arrived in a well decorated cycle rickshaw, the crowd roared. No captain got such a reception.
Tomorrow, for the opener, the stadium will be full.
More than one billion eyes will be riveted on the opener tomorrow, as BD takes on mighty India ! To India, it is a grudge match, as they were beaten by BD in the 2007 WC. This defeat sent shock waves through India to such an extent that Dravid, the captain, was sacked from the Indian team ! Susbequent loss to SL and other teams eroded the value of the 2007 Indian team. The 2003 team under Ganguly, had performed creditably, losing only in the finals to formidable Australia ! The 2007 WC performance was the worst by an Indian team, after Kapil Dev brought the WC in 1983.
The players' houses were stoned !
Meanwhile, Afridi has said that South Asian crowds make Pak feel at home. His team has many ardent supporters amongst the South Asians and hopefully Pak will do well before them. He is not bothered about the fact that there are no matches in Pak ! One of the most dangerous outfits in One Day Internationals, Pak can uspet any team on their day ! They have a knack of exploding and imploding, but then they will explode at the right time !
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