India vs Australia: Zaheer Khan slow ball yielding right results

India's bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan on Thursday said the slower ball was doing the trick for him after picking two wickets in the World Cup quarterfinal against Australia.

The left-arm paceman dismissed Michael Hussey with the old ball to give India a key breakthrough before accounting for Cameron White in the 42nd over to help India restrict Australia to 260-6 off 50 overs.

"It has been going well for me," said Zaheer, who is India's leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 19 scalps.

"The slower one is working particularly well for me. It is one of those things when things are going your way, they are going your way."

Zaheer was warned by umpires once for straying on the pitch and the seamer said they were right in doing so.

"It was dry wicket, the odd ball went inside. And because it was a dry wicket the umpires were also a bit cautious about the surface breaking down early.

"It did not put any pressure on me as I could always bowl around the wicket. In fact, it was my plan to bowl around the wicket."

Zaheer said India's batsmen would need to steady their nerves while chasing the target under lights.

"It is a good batting track. They have a par score on the board. We still have to bat well, keep our nerve and build partnerships."

The winners of this tie will meet Pakistan in the semifinal in Mohali on March 30.

The West Indies: Up for the Cup - ICC World Cup 2011 Preview

The West Indian cricket team has given an excellent performance in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2011 and have secured 6 points after playing 4 matches. They have been victorious on three occasions and lost a match against the South African side. The dynamic West Indian team have the skill and the talent to go all the way in the tournament.

A discussion of their accomplishments and prospects in the forthcoming matches in the event is as follows:

The West Indians played their inaugural match at Delhi, India on 24 February against the formidable South African side and scored 222 runs before they were bowled out. Darren Bravo played a creative inning of 73 runs which gave some consolidation, as Dwayne Bravo scored 40 runs in the middle of the innings. Spinner Imran Tahir was the main weapon for the Proteas, who grabbed 4 wickets as Dale Steyn took 3 wickets.

South Africa chased the target comfortably in 42.5 overs for the loss of just 3 wickets as AB de Villiers hammered an unbeaten 107 runs.

The second match was played on the last day of February against the Netherlands at Delhi and the Caribbean’s got after the Dutch bowling by posting 330 runs on board for the loss of 8 wickets. Chris Gayle played a spectacular inning of 80 runs followed by a hurried knock of 60 runs in 59 balls by Kieron Pollard. Pieter Seelaar was the main wicket taker with 3 and Mudassar Bukhari claimed 2 wickets.

The Dutch team came out with a poor response and were bowled out at 115 runs in 31.3 overs, Tom Cooper was the only batsman who showed some resistance and remained unbeaten on 55 runs.

Kemar Roach put himself in the history books by claiming a hat-trick and folded the Netherland innings by taking 6 wickets for just 27 runs in 8.3 overs, as Sulieman Benn took 3 wickets.

The third match was played against the hosts Bangladesh on 4 March at Mirpur. They bulldozed the Bangladesh batting and bowled them out on a mere 58 runs, Junaid Siddique was the top scorer with 25 runs. Benn was the main wicket taker with 4 as Roach and Darren Sammy shared 3 wickets each.

The target was achieved comfortably by the Windies in 12.2 overs for the loss of a wicket.

The West Indians came across the proud Irish team, who had beaten the strong England side in a thriller on 2 March at Bangalore, India.

The fourth match against Ireland was played on 11 March at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali, India. The West Indies scored 275 runs in the allotted 50 overs, Devon Smith played a gutsy innings and punched 107 runs, followed by a quick fired 94 runs by Pollard off 83 balls with 5 sixes and 8 fours. Kevin O’Brien was the highest wicket taker with 4.

The Irish team came out with some resistance but were bowled out at 231 runs in 49 overs. Benn was the chief wicket taker with 4 wickets, as the captain Sammy also took 3 wickets.

The West Indies are positioned at number three in the group B standings and they have yet to play two important games in their pool. They will play against England on 17 March in Chennai, and they should come out with some positive teamwork. England will be entering in that match for their survival in the World Cup and the West Indians will have to keep up with their winning momentum.

Their last match is scheduled against one of the hosts, India, which is a very strong team at their home grounds. The West Indians have bright chances for the quarter-finals and if they manage to win, they will boost their morale and may possibly repeat the history of 1975 and 1979 by grasping the coveted trophy again.

Eighty fans chase every World Cup final ticket

Nearly 80 fans are vying for every seat available online for the April 2 final of the World Cup in Mumbai, head of the official ticket agency said on Friday.

There is a similar demand for semi-final matches and it would only grow further in the next couple of days before the ballot window is closed, KyaZoonga chief executive Neetu Bhatia said.

Dalmiya accuses ICC of double standards

"In terms of demand for tickets for semi-final and final, it's almost at 80:1 ratio and we are still counting," Bhatia told Reuters by telephone.

"The demand stands nearly 80 times of the tickets available. We are very excited about this. Sunday is the cut-off day and people are still going to apply for those tickets."

The organisers have already confirmed that of the 33,000 seats in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, only 1000 would be available online.

In all, around 4000 tickets are available for the public, while the rest would be distributed among the International Cricket Council (ICC) and clubs affiliated to the Mumbai Cricket Association.

Last month, the ticket website crashed in 20 minutes when 10 million fans logged in seeking those 1000 tickets, prompting the organisers to organise a ballot system instead.

Sidhu's secret diary

"It's actually the first ever such ticket ballot to be held in this part of the world. We put it together quickly and swiftly when it was decided, along with ICC and BCCI (Indian cricket board), that we would go the ballot way," Bhatia said.

"It's the most equitable form of ticket distribution that's used for Wimbledon and Olympics. We are pretty proud of what we have accomplished by putting it together so quickly for an event like this."

After the ballot, successful applicants would have to make the payment and the tickets would start reaching them from the third week of this month, she added.

Wasim Akram urges Pakistan not to panic after New Zealand loss – ICC World Cup 2011 news

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has advised Pakistan cricket team not to panic following their morale-sapping 110-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand on Tuesday in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2011 group stage.

Akram has urged that the team captain, Shahid Afridi must have a plan B ready for every game if things do not work in the pre-planned manner.

“I think there is a clear need for the captain to handle the pressure on the field when the situation changes,” said Akram in an interview with a leading sports channel of Pakistan. “At times I get the feeling that everything is decided before hand and when things to start go wrong there is no change of mind or the inclination to take decisions as the situation warrants.”

Talking about Tuesday’s game between New Zealand and Pakistan, Akram said that the main reason behind Pakistan’s collapse was that their think-tank panicked and exhausted the crucial overs of all the key bowlers including death overs specialist Umar Gul.

The pace bowling great of Pakistan feels bowling is still Pakistan’s strength and they should rely more on it and remain in attacking mode.

Akram said that the team is good and if the management picks the right combination in the next game, they have the potential to go a long way in the tournament reiterating that they do not need to panic.

He also asked the crazy cricket fans of Pakistan not to overreact at the defeat against the Kiwis.

“I would like to appeal to our people not to take any defeat or bad performance to heart and react like the Bangladeshi fans did,” said the former Pakistan captain who played cricket for 19 years. “Our team is a good team but in sports the other team also comes into win. We must learn to be patient and back our players all the way.”

Wasim also expressed disappointment over the attack of fanatic Bangladesh fans on the West Indies team bus in Dhaka.

India vs Netherlands (IND vs NED) ICC World Cup Live Cricket Score.

Cricket News Updates: Netherland has won the toss and elected bat first.

Cricket, India vs Netherlands live score in ICC World Cup 2011 video. Cricket, India vs Netherlands live score in ICC World Cup 2011 video. Men-in-blue look for an easy walk over Dutch.

After a neck to neck fight with Irish players India moves to its capital to conquer Dutch. MS Dhoni’s men are set to have a relief win after a couple of breath taking matches against England and Ireland. Netherlands would be a stepping stone for Indians to leap into the quarter finals easily.

All eyes are set on Sachin Tendulkar who is just 18 runs away from a record 2000-run landmark in World Cups. Cricket world hoped the little blaster should have crossed it against Ireland. But as usual Sachin decided to break and erect records with a lot of patience.

The match at Delhi is expected to draw a huge crowd of 42000 who may cheer for the Deli trio, Sehwag, Gambir and Kohli. Among these three big hitters Gambir is the only batsman to find a century while Sehwag has no memorable innings at home so far.

Still the fans of men in blue here in home and away expect a Diwali like cracks from probably the best batting line up of the world. Five out of the top seven batsmen has already hit either a ton or half while captain Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan always try to blaze.

Netherlands on the other hand has lost all of their World Cup matches so far and approved their title as minnows of the mega event. Ryan ten Doeschate is the only player to score a century in this WC while Tom Cooper only past 50.

However, Dhoni s not ready to take the game as a practicing session. So far we have had a good game, a tight game and a close game. We have shown signs of improvement. What we need now is an easy win," Indian captain said before the match.

India squad

MS Dhoni*†, V Sehwag, R Ashwin, PP Chawla, G Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, V Kohli, A Nehra, MM Patel, YK Pathan, SK Raina, S Sreesanth, SR Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh

Netherlands squad

PW Borren*, Adeel Raja, W Barresi†, Mudassar Bukhari, AF Buurman†, TLW Cooper, TN de Grooth, AN Kervezee, BP Kruger, BP Loots, PM Seelaar, ES Szwarczynski, RN ten Doeschate, BA Westdijk, B Zuiderent
India vs Netherlands, World Cup 2011, Feroz Shah Kotla Match

Umpires: SJ Davis and BNJ Oxenford

TV umpire: BR Doctrove

Match referee: RS Madugalle

Reserve umpire: HDPK Dharmasena

ICC World Cup 2011: Ireland made to pay for a damaged door in Indian hotel

Ireland have once again found themselves in another controversy, just days after their wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien lost his bag containing his bats. This time, reports are coming that the Irish were asked to pay for damages discovered in their dressing room after their match against India last Sunday.

According to Indian media reports, the Ireland cricket management has paid 23,000 rupees to the local cricket association to cover the damages. Apparently a door in the dressing room was broken. Reports suggest that the incident happened when the door was accidentally pushed outwards instead of inwards, which caused the bottom hinge to break.

The Ireland management has chosen not to name the player responsible for the incident. Getting entangled in a controversy with the local administration was perhaps the last thing the Irish management wanted and for this reason the fine was paid without any hassle.

Meanwhile India’s all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, who was the man of the match in the Ireland-India clash, has come forward to help Niall O’Brien cover his loss of six bats that were in his bag that has gone missing. Singh has offered O’ Brien two of his bats, which may come in handy during Ireland’s do-or-die match against West Indies this Friday. “It is a wonderful gesture from Yuvraj and I’m very grateful. However, I am confident that the bats will arrive from my sponsor in time for Friday,” said O’Brien.

According to insiders, O’Brien’s sponsor Gray Nicolls, have a factory near Chandigarh and have assured the Irish cricketer that they would provide him with the necessary gear in time before the next fixture. Initially when O’ Brien’s sports kit disappeared, the Ireland management informed the local police before contacting the local cricket association responsible for hosting the players in the venue. The cricket association did not like the police getting involved in their matters and had expressed annoyance over the issue.

However, Cricket Ireland released a statement yesterday, explaining the reason for reporting the matter to the police. “To enable Niall to claim compensation from his insurance company, we reported the matter to the local police station. This was done to secure a police incident number, without which the insurance company will not entertain his claim,” the statement said.

Cricket World cup records: Indian cricket team vs Netherlands cricket team

• The Netherlands cricket team happen to have a pretty inconsistent record in qualifying for the ICC world tournaments, and are said to be one of the weakest teams in the ICC.
• Netherlands have played 3 ICC cricket world cups uptil now (1996, 2003 and 2007). 1996 Cricket World Cup was their first encounter with the world class teams.
• Netherlands cricket team came across the Indian cricket team in the 2003 Cricket World Cup for the first and the only time up till now and were able to bowl Indian cricket team out on a small target of 204 runs. However the pitch being suitable for the bowlers, the Netherlands team was also bowled out on just 136, thanks to Anil Kumble’s tight line and length (4/32 in ten overs).
• In 2007 Cricket World Cup Netherlands were unable to face the Indian cricket team, firstly because of the group restrictions, secondly as both of them failed to qualify for the super 8 round.
• Most probably the Indian cricket team can win over the Dutch Cricket team easily, because of their strong batting and bowling line up.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011- Online travel operators gain momentum now!

New Delhi: With the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 being hosted in the subcontinent after a long span of 15 years, cricket fans and enthusiasts are heading towards the subcontinent to catch the matches and cheer for their favorite teams.

Numerous fans are busy confirming their travel reservations, and booking tickets for matches.

Online tour operators and travel agents are benefitting from this as they are witnessing great holiday bookings during the world cup.

The maximum bookings have been made for the India vs. South Africa match on March 12 in Nagpur and the India vs. West Indies battle at Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on March 20.

These travel agents are offering special travel packages which comprises of air travel, hotel stay, match tests, meals and transfers in India.

Gautam Kaul, COO, Inbound – Yatra Exotic Routes, Yatra.com stated, “Travellers coming in for 15-20 days to cheer for their team playing four matches would also look forward to travel to nearby destinations in between.”

He said further, “People are either choosing to travel for 3-4 days or for a longer duration of 6-7 days pre or post the tournament. Between February 20 and March 15, we expect to handle at least 100-120 foreign travellers.”

Much prior to the Cricket World Cup, online travel service providers such as Cleartrip and MakeMyTrip have witnessed an increase in the booking of hotels and air tickets.

Keyur Joshi, Co-Founder and COO, Makemytrip.com stated “While we have been receiving queries from Australia, UK and UAE for World cup and many travellers extending their holiday to explore rest of India.”

Joshi said further, “But there still hasn’t been a huge jump in traffic due to world cup. We think it’s an opportunity loss for tourism in India.”

He said further, “World cup is an event big enough for the government to attract foreign tourists to India, which has not been marketed well.”

ICC Cricket World Cup: Final And Semi-Final Tickets To Be Sold Through Ballot

ICC Chief Executive Mr. Haroon Lorgat announced today that the tickets for the finale and semi-finals of the world cup will be distributed through a ballot system that shall be channelized through ICC’s official ticket partner www.kyazoonga.com.

Earlier when the ICC had decided to sell the 4000 odd tickets for each of the matches through kyazoonga .com the number of people wanting the tickets were so many that the site crashed in a matter of few minutes from the time the tickets started selling.

The semi-finals are going to be played on 29th in Colombo and on the 30th in Mohali, while the finals are going to be played in Wankhede on the 2nd of April.  The ballot will start on the 28th February (Monday).

ICC Chief Executive Mr. Lorgat said: “It was most unfortunate and no blame should be directed at Kyazoonga, the ICC’s official ticketing partner, as no one could have anticipated that tens of millions people would be trying to access the site an hour before it went live. In truth Kyazoonga have been an innocent third party in all the issues we have had with ticketing.

“In conjunction with the hosts, we have now agreed that a ballot system is the best means of releasing any available tickets for the semis and final. The high demand clearly proves the massive attraction of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and format of 50 overs cricket.”

In dismissing media perceptions about a letter addressed to ICC President Mr. Sharad Pawar, Mr. Lorgat added: “To help resolve our ticketing challenges we have also engaged the offices of the ICC President Mr. Pawar to assist us as he has done with several other issues related to World Cup planning.”

The tickets selling process can be summarized in six steps:

Step 1: You can apply for the ICC CWC Ticket Public Ballot from the 28th February to the 6th March. The public ballot application form is to be filled in at http://cwc2011ballot.kyazoonga.com. Only two tickets per applicant is allowed and only one application per person shall be considered. In case you do fill up another application the second application shall be automatically avoided.

Step 2: You will receive a Ballot Confirmation Number once you complete and submit your application form. No upfront payment is required at this stage.

Step 3: Try to follow all the instructions and rules myopically. If you break any of the rules then the tickets offered to you shall be immediately cancelled. All Ballot applications must be submitted no later than 6 March 2011.

Step 4: The draw will be made by computer on 10 March 2011 and successful applicants will be informed by email on 11 March 2011. If you have not heard from Kyazoonga by 12 March 2011, please assume that your application was not successful in the ballot.

Step 5: Successful applicants will be able to pay for their tickets through Kyazoonga’s secure payment processing website where they will be shown the transaction amount and asked to pay online using credit card/debit card/net-banking. If your transaction is not successful, your place in the draw will be offered to the next polled applicant from the draw.

Step 6: Upon successful payment completion, you will receive a confirmation page and email. Please print the page and keep the email. You will receive your tickets from the third week of March 2011.

Pepsi prepares for World Cup 2011!

PepsiCo India is planning to “Change the game” in World Cup 2011. The cola company has launched a 360 degree campaign- January 15, 2011 in two phases. The campaign will end in the first week of April.

According to the reports, Pepsi will be launch five television commercials which will have innovative shots like the Helicopter shot, the Switch Hit, the Upper Cut, the Discoop and the Doosra, that have either been discovered by the youth or the players.”

Reports said further that Conceptualised by Taproot India, the TVC will feature cricketers like Virender Sehwag, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kevin Pietersen discovering the shots and making them a part of their game.

The TVC will be on air from January 15, 2011 and will continue in phases till the first week of April.

Sandeep Singh Arora, executive vice-president, marketing, cola, PepsiCo India, said, “Change the Game is big idea in the context of the game of cricket. With this campaign, we hope to inspire the youth to change the game, be innovative, take risks and do things differently.”

World Cup 2011- Cricket enthusiasts are upgrading from a CRT to LCD

New Delhi: With the commencement of the World Cup, cricket fans and enthusiasts are switching over to LCD TVs. They are opting for sleek flat panels.


Deputy MD of Samsung India R Zutshi stated “Many people are upgrading from a CRT to LCD. The upgrade market has seen a strong pick-up because of attractive entry-level pricing.”

He said further, “Many first-time buyers have planned their purchases around the World Cup anticipating good deals.”

Samsung 32” and 40” LCDs and LED TVs available within the price range of Rs 30,000 and Rs 65,000 are very much in demand these days. There has been a rise in the sales of LCD TVs after a lull.

Philips is also offering good deals on LCD TVs as a part of its special promotion. On the purchase of 46” Philips LCD TVs, the company is offering a free 24” LCD TV.

Masaru Tamagawa, managing director, Sony India stated “We plan to consolidate our position in flat panel TVs with a target of 40% share during the World Cup season.”

The company has made Rs 100 crore multi-media campaign with their brand ambassador Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Injured Bollinger ruled out of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

The reigning world champions Australia were dealt a huge blow in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 on Friday after their left-arm fast bowler Doug Bollinger was sent back to Australia as he was made to sit out due to a left ankle injury.

Doug Bollinger

Bollinger hasn’t played any game since February 13 when he played the first warm-up match against India. The left-armer went for 29 from his six overs in that game.

Despite the claims made by skipper Ricky Ponting that Dougie was recovering fast from a slight ankle niggle ahead of the opening match against Zimbabwe, the fast bowler couldn’t find himself a place in the playing eleven and he had to meet the same fate on Friday when he was made to sit out of the New Zealand clash as he failed to recover from the injury.

Doug Bollinger. Courtesy: Getty Images

Australian team physiotherapist, Alex Kountouris confirmed that the left-armer was facing severe pain when he landed in the South Asia.

Kountouris said, “Unfortunately the pain is now significantly affecting his ability to bowl and he will not be playing any further part in the tournament. Doug will now return to Australia and seek specialist opinion to determine the best course of management for the injury.”

Australian National Selection Panel is yet to announce a replacement for Doug Bollinger.

How to Get Your Cricket World Cup Tickets

The Cricket World Cup is just 17 days away, but there’s still a chance to get tickets for many of the first round matches, provided you don’t mind watching some of the less fancied teams.

Unsurprisingly tickets for India’s key games have been snapped up, though the shifting of India vs. England on Feb. 27 from Kolkata’s Eden Gardens to Chinnaswamy Stadium might free up a few, since some people won’t be able to change plans and travel to Bangalore.

The only India match for which tickets are still available is the Ireland game on March 6, also in Bangalore. It’s unlikely to be a classic, but you never know, bearing in mind Ireland dumped Pakistan out of the World Cup in 2007.

If you’re looking for tickets, check on the official World Cup Web site. There is a tickets section, which takes users through to a page run by Kyazoonga.com, the official ticketing partner for the World Cup. Hopefully they’ll have an easier time handling online traffic than the Commonwealth Games ticketing partner, IRCTC, the state-run railways reservations portal, did.

A quick hunt around the site shows that there are still tickets for some exciting clashes, including South Africa vs. England in Chennai on March 6 and Australia vs. New Zealand in Nagpur on Feb. 25. Tickets for the semis (in Colombo and Mohali) and final (Mumbai) are not on sale yet, but it’s possible to sign up on the official website so you can be alerted when they become available.

India is hosting the World Cup with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Tickets for matches in Sri Lanka can be bought on the official website, while Bangladesh has designated a number of City Bank and Agrani Bank branches as retail outlets.

For online purchases, local customers can use credit or debit cards, while those buying from outside India will need to use a valid international credit card. Tickets are delivered by courier, although the site FAQs don’t say whether they courier to international addresses. Tickets can also be picked up at the venue. If you’re in India already, I’d go for the courier option to avoid extra hassle at the stadium.

Fans can also buy tickets directly from the venues, though be prepared to queue and be wary of the dangers that seem to crop up whenever India hosts a major sporting event.

According to a NDTV report, a wall at Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium collapsed today as hundreds of people waited in line to buy tickets. Two people were injured, the report said. For the second time in as many weeks, the World Cup preparations veered along worryingly similar lines to the mess seen in the run-up to last October’s Commonwealth Games.

So much for learning the lessons from that debacle, and all the more reason to book tickets through the relatively safer Internet route. What could possibly go wrong? Actually, forget I asked that.

PSU insurers in talks with ICC for WC insurance cover

New Delhi: Eyeing a multi-crore deal, four state-run insurers, besides General Insurance Corporation are in talks with ICC for insuring the cricket World Cup 2011 commencing on 19 February.

India will host 27 matches at eight venues, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Punjab, Gujarat and Nagpur.

The state-owned re-insurance firm General Insurance Corporation (GIC) and the four PSU general insurance companies , United India Insurance, New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance and National Insurance would insure the one and a half month long event.

“The General Insurance Corporation is finalising the insurance cover for the one and half month long cricketing event. It all depends on the total cost involved in hosting the games and the sum would be decided soon,” United India Insurance chairman and managing director G Srinivasan said.

The 2011 World Cup would begin on 19 February and end on 2 April. The broadcasting rights for the international sporting event is with ESPN and the telecaster has reportedly asked for a cover of over Rs. 500 crore.

He said the insurers would provide cover broadly to organisers of the event and media telecaster.

“Insurance cover would be to organisers in the event of cancellation and also to media for revenue loss arising out of loss of advertisement in telecasting the games,” Srinivasan said.

The insurance cover would compensate for any loss arising from cancellation due to a natural calamity, like earthquake, floods or riot, and terror attacks.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) cricket World Cup is the showpiece event of the cricketing calendar and takes place every four years, with matches contested in a 50 overs per side format.

Apart from India two other Asian countries, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka would together host a total of 49 matches of the World Cup.

Srikanth, selectors in Chennai to select India's World Cup 2011 team

The chairman of the national cricket selection committee, K Srikanth and the three other members of the committee have arrived here to pick the final squad for World Cup 2011.

The National selectors will select the 15-member Team India out of 30 probables.
According to the sources, selectors will select eight to nine batsmen and one extra wicketkeeper. Mahendra Singh Dhoni will lead the Team India in the World Cup 2011, beginning from February 19.
Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Virat Kohli are sure to get the berth in World Cup side.
As far as second wicketkeeper is concerned, the fight is between Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik.
Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar and Ishant Sharma will vie in the pace department. Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra, R Ashwin and Piyush Chawla will contest in the spin department.(ANI)
Copyright Asian News International/DailyIndia.com

BCCI to give students free tickets for World Cup

New Delhi: To ensure capacity crowd at the stadiums, the organising committee of the 2011 cricket World Cup has decided to distribute free tickets to school and college students.

Tournament director Ratnakar Shetty told reporters here Thursday that the organising committee is in talks with the sponsors and the host associations to work out how many tickets can be distributed among the students.

"We have decided to distribute free tickets among students. We have lots of sponsorship programmes through which we will be distributing the tickets. State associations will also have some quota for the students. We want the state associations to throw their gates open for the students," said Shetty.

Shetty, who is also the chief administrative officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said that free tickets will be given to draw crowds, specially for the non-India matches.

"The real challenge is to bring in people for non-India games and one of the suggestions is to bring in school and college children," he said.

Shetty said that ICC officials have visited Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata to inspect the stadia, which have been renovated.

"All the three stadiums in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata have undergone massive renovation. We have made sure that the stadiums have better spectator services, media facilities and proper set-up for the broadcaster," he said.