We have surely been treated to a real feast of 50-over cricket with some outstanding games,” Mr. Pawar said in a statement. “Some people have been predicting the demise of 50-over cricket but they have been proven wrong throughout ‘The Cup that Counts’.”
It’s hard to disagree – the group stage produced many more thrilling matches than expected, often involving an England team seemingly hell-bent on putting its supporters through as much suffering and angst as possible.
Despite the occasional upset, the eight teams through to the knock-out stage are the ones that everyone expected to progress: India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies.
And no doubt that is what the ICC was hoping for when it changed the tournament format following the 2007 event in the West Indies, when Pakistan and India were both knocked out early, taking millions of global viewers with them.
It would be fair to say that this has at least been the greatest and most dramatic first round ever, and that’s no easy feat considering the many mismatches that are part and parcel of any world cup, even football.
The associate teams, particularly Ireland, should take credit for their contribution to the tournament, but it’s still tough to argue against the decision to slim the 2015 World Cup down to 10 countries from 14 this year.
It’s been going for a month, but the 2011 Cricket World Cup only now really gets underway.
Will Mr. Pawar’s prediction come true? Well, it’s hardly been a great World Cup for subjective supporters of Kenya – a team that has slumped since surprisingly reaching the semifinals in 2003. But for most viewers and fans it’s certainly provided enough thrills and the tournament is now shaping up nicely with the drool-inducing quarterfinals in store this week: Pakistan vs. West Indies, India vs. Australia, South Africa vs. New Zealand and Sri Lanka vs. England.
The organizers will probably be secretly hoping that India prevails against Australia on Thursday, as tournaments often suffer when a host gets knocked out. Advertisers will also be cheering for India in the hope that television viewership grows as the World Cup progresses.
Mr. Pawar noted that television audience figures for this World Cup have already set new records. “The India vs. England match was the most viewed game in ICC Cricket World Cup history with multi-millions in India alone tuning in,” he said.
That record will surely be broken this week when India takes on reigning champions Australia.
But forget, for a moment, whether or not this could be the greatest and most dramatic World Cup ever, for Thursday alone could very well see the greatest and most dramatic match, ever
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