India will stage the Cricket World Cup final for the first time in 2011, the organisers have agreed. They were confirmed as co-hosts of the event with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at this week’s International Cricket Council conference in London.
Pakistan hosted the final the last time the World Cup was played in Asia 10 years ago.
But Pakistan and Sri Lanka will stage semi-finals in 2011, with the opening ceremony taking place in Bangladesh.
“It has been decided that all four should evenly play a part in hosting the major events of the tournament,” said Pakistan Cricket Board director Abbas Zaidi.
The Asian bid was preferred to a joint application from Australia and New Zealand for the 2011 showpiece.
And officials have already expressed their determination to make it the best World Cup in the tournament’s history.
“Traffic will come to a stop in the four countries in 2011. There will be more than a billion (TV) viewers in the sub-continent, and another billion in the rest of the world,” India’s Inderjit Singh Bindra has said.
India will stage 22 matches, Pakistan 16, Sri Lanka nine and Bangladesh six.
Among the potential venues for the final would be Eden Gardens in Calcutta, which has a capacity of 90,000, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai (Bombay), the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, or the Feroz Shaha Kotla in Delhi.
HOSTS FOR FORTHCOMING ICC TOURNAMENTS
2007 Twenty20 Championship, South Africa 2008 Champions Trophy, Pakistan 2009 Twenty20 Championship, England 2009 Women’s World Cup, Australia 2009 ICC Trophy, UAE 2010 Champions Trophy, West Indies 2011 World Cup, Asia 2012 Champions Trophy or Twenty20, Sri Lanka 2013 Champions Trophy or Twenty20, tbc 2013 Women’s World Cup, India 2013 ICC Trophy, Scotland 2014 Champions Trophy or Twenty20, Bangladesh 2015 World Cup, Australia & New Zealand
A new state-of-the-art stadium in New Delhi will host the finals of the 2011 World Cup, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) announced. This will be the first stadium owned entirely by the board, said Lalit Modi, vice-president of the BCCI.
The BCCI stadium will be situated in south New Delhi, in a 70-acre area alloted by the authorities between the Maharani Bagh area and the banks of the Yamuna river. Modi stated that it was still very early to give out details regarding the cost of the stadium, but gave a glimpse of the proposed facilities. He added that construction work would begin later this year.
It was also decided that The Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore and the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo would host the semi-finals.
This is a good choice and Delhi will also have better and upgraded infrastructure available as they will be holding the Commonwealth games. By the way whats happening to Islamabads state of the art stadium?