ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Comment
Well this is not the occasion of a leap year, but this is something which has become a way of life for many throughout the globe. It's the event which comes once in four years which makes it more special. It's the cup of Cups and we in India celebrate it as the Cricket World Cup.
Jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the most awaited event of the year starts on February 14th which by co-incidence turns out to be Valentine's day and a sort of blessing in disguise for the innumerous Cricket fans to show their love for the sport .India starts the tournament with her first match against her arch-rival Pakistan which sort of evokes the patriotism of every Indian and Pakistani fan. It is much more than a match .Sachin Tendulkar has been chosen as the 2015 Cricket World Cup Ambassador. The ICC World Cup 2015 starts on February 14th and concludes on 29th March.
The 14 teams participating are divided into two pools viz. Pool A and Pool B wherein Pool A consists of Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Sri Lanka; while Pool B consists of India, Ireland, Pakistan, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, West Indies and Zimbabwe.
The Group Stage matches continue till 15th of March in which four top teams from every group will progress to the next round. From 18th of March would be the quarter finals where in we would be following a knockout system as in the team who wins progresses and the team who loses bows out of the tournament .The four Quarter final matches amongst the eight teams would then conclude on the 21st of March and the winner of the respective matches would then be paired in the Semi-Finals which are to be held on the 24th and 26th of March and the eventual winners would then be fighting for the most important match of the tournament and the eventual trophy "The World Cup" on the 29th of March and the venue for the big occasion is Melbourne Cricket Ground popularly called MCG which is considered to be one of the finest stadiums in the world and with a capacity of just over a lakh.
There has been a lot of speculation as to who will win the World Cup and many have predicted that Australia have an upper hand due to their current squad and their performance in the recent series against India .Also ranked No 1 ODI team in the world, it would be very difficult to defeat Australia on their home soil .India ranking no 2 in the world ranking has not been performing well in the recent months but no team can be dismissed so soon .South Africa with their talismanic captain AB De Villiers are serious contenders with their team having talent in each aspect of the game say it bowling ,batting or fielding. Nothing absolutely nothing can be said sure about the outcome of various matches. Minnows like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, UAE, Ireland and Scotland may spring up a surprise by defeating any of the heavyweights. Being complacent is just close enough to give the opposition an upper hand in the matches .Surely we are going to see numerous hidden talents emerging on the scene .It is a dream for every cricketer to play at this level, make his country proud and bring glory to the nation. War-torn countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan would know what it means to win the World Cup while countries who had a glorious past like West Indies also know what is expected from the people. Australia with four World Cups have a lot of experience in what is required for winning the World Cup.
India is counting on its young brigade to fire. With the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and other young players we have all the energy needed to retain the World Cup, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India's captain fantastic has all the leadership qualities to give the masses of India the gift they like the most. Even though the match timings are quite odd that is in the wee hours of morning, I expect every Indian fan to follow every match religiously. Wishing India all the very best for the tournament and looking forward to 45 days of pure entertainment and a well organized tournament.
Hemit Mazny
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