Opening Ceremony Of Icc Cricket World Cup 2011

The president of the International Cricket Council Sharad Pawar today surprised everyone as he delivered the introductory lines of his speech at the inauguration ceremony of the World Cup in Bengali.

"Swagato (Welcome)," Pawar said at the Bangabandhu Stadium. "Bangladesh khoobi sundor desh (Bangladesh is a beautiful country)," the Indian Union Minister of Agriculture stated amid thunderous applause from a sell-out crowd.

"This will be a World Cup which everyone will remember," Pawar said.

"I have been associated with two World Cup opening ceremonies but this was organised on a grand scale."

Pawar thanked Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the government of India for their support. He also thanked BCCI president Shashank Manohar and his Sri Lankan counterpart DS de Silva for their support.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received the biggest cheer during the opening round of speeches but she made a faux pas while announcing the tournament open in Bengali.

She initially said "Biswa Cup Du Hajar Ek" (which means World Cup 2001) but later corrected when she declared the tournament open in English.
 
The Indian cricket team has left here for Dhaka for the opening ceremony of the ICC World Cup 2011 on Thursday. The squad, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, left Chennai International Airport with team members Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, and S. Sreesanth.

India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are jointly hosting the 2011 ICC World Cup.

The opening match of the tournament will be played in Dhaka on February 19, in which India will take on Bangladesh.(ANI)

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