| MUMBAI:
The International Cricket Council conference held in London has reached a final
decision on certain key points pertaining to the 2011 Cricket World Cup venue
distribition between India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
While
India will stage the final match, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will stage semi-finals.
The opening ceremony has gone to Bangladesh. "It has been decided
that all four should evenly play a part in hosting the major events of the tournament,"
Pakistan Cricket Board director Abbas Zaidi has been quoted in media reports as
saying. Pakistan hosted the final of the World Cup, last played in Asia 10 years
ago. "Traffic will come to a stop in the four countries in 2011. There
will be more than a billion television viewers in the sub-continent, and another
billion in the rest of the world," adds Inderjit Singh Bindra of India.
The 2011 World Cup will see
India staging 22 matches, Pakistan 16, Sri Lanka nine and Bangladesh six. The
venues being considered for the final include Eden Gardens in Calcutta, the Wankhede
Stadium in Mumbai, the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore and the Feroz Shaha Kotla
in Delhi. | 
