World Cup 2011

Bangalore Kochi Tuskers Kerala

2011-05-08T07:30:00.000+05:00

Bangalore

Kochi Tuskers Kerala

Match scheduled to begin at 16:00 local time (10:30 GMT)

Current time: 07:58 local, 02:28 GMT | Match begins in: 8:02

IPL2011 news

2011-04-09T10:36:00.000+05:00

MS Dhoni and his Chennai Super Kings side got off to a winning start in their IPL campaign, beating Kolkata by two runs at home

Indian Premier League

2011-04-08T16:19:00.001+05:00

Indian Premier League, 1st match: Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders at Chennai, Apr 8, 2011

Chennai Super Kings

Kolkata Knight Riders

Match scheduled to begin at 20:00
local time (14:30 GMT)

Current time: 16:48 local, 11:18 GMT | Match begins in: 3:12

SLC selection committee quits before end of term

2011-04-07T14:35:00.000+05:00

SLC selection committee quits before end of term

The Sri Lankan selection committee, headed by chief selector Aravinda De Silva, has handed in its resignation to the sports minister. On what was a second successive day of churn in the country's cricket establishment, Mahela Jayawardene also quit as the team's vice-captain. Kumar Sangakkara had on Tuesday announced his decision to step down as the the limited-overs' captain of the side.

Aravinda's selection committee was appointed in June 2010, and included Ranjith Fernando, Amal Silva and Azwer Ali. Its term was to end on April 30 and the decision to stand down in advance was, it said in a statement, to allow the new selection committee "an opportunity to make short- and long- term plans, in the way they think is best for our cricket".

"When we took over our assignment, our broad goal was always to hand over Sri Lankan cricket in better shape than when we took over," Aravinda wrote in his resignation letter to the board. "While like everyone else associated with SLC, we are also enormously disappointed at not being able to annex the coveted World Cup, which was lost to India in a highly competitive final, we are happy we have been able to meet most of our objectives in a very short space of time."

Samuels returns in new-look squad

2011-04-07T14:32:00.000+05:00

Samuels returns in new-look squad

Ashley Nurse is in the West Indies squad for the first time

West Indies have announced a new-look squad for their one-off Twenty20 international against Pakistan in St Lucia on April 21, featuring four new caps and recalls for Lendl Simmons and Marlon Samuels, who is once again eligible for selection after serving a two-year ban for his alleged involvement with illegal bookmakers.

The match will be West Indies' first since Pakistan eliminated them at the quarter-final stage of the World Cup, and true to the intentions of their coach, Ottis Gibson, the team is the first step towards a new era for Caribbean cricket, as it features few of the elder statesmen who were sent packing from the tournament with a humiliating ten-wicket defeat in Dhaka.

Though Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard are not eligible for selection because they did not play in the Caribbean T20 earlier this year, there is no place either for Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan or Sulieman Benn. Darren Sammy retains his place as captain, with Devendra Bishoo and Andre Russell, two young players who made good impressions at the World Cup, both included.

The uncapped inclusions are Danza Hyatt, a powerful Jamaican right-hander; Christopher Barnwell, an allrounder from Guyana; Ashley Nurse, an offspinner from Barbados, and left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie, also from Jamaica. Simmons, the nephew of the Ireland coach, Phil, is back in the squad for the first time since the tour of Australia in 2010.

Clyde Butts, the chairman of selectors, said: "The squad includes players who have performed well in the Caribbean T20. We are looking to expose players as he build towards the next ICC World T20 Tournament next year. Samuels and Simmons have both played at this level before and performed consistently in the Caribbean T20. We believe they will be key members of this team.

"Hyatt, Santokie and Nurse played in the West Indies A Team against Pakistan A and they did well. We have decided to give them the opportunity in the senior West Indies team and we believe they will make the transition to the higher level. Barnwell also did well in the Caribbean T20 and he also had exposure for Guyana in the Champions League last year. He is a lively and enthusiastic cricketer and we expect good things from him as well.

"Hyatt is a hard-hitting batsman who has demonstrated his ability to be a match-winner when he played against Pakistan A. Santokie has been exceptional in the Caribbean T20 using the new ball for Jamaica. Nurse is a clever bowler, a hard worker and has the ability to make vital runs in the lower order as well."

West Indies squad Darren Sammy (capt), Christopher Barnwell, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Andre Fletcher, Danza Hyatt, Ashley Nurse, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons.

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Imran Khan felicitates umpire Aleem Dar, who had a 100% track record during the World Cup Associated Press

2011-04-07T14:30:00.000+05:00

Imran Khan felicitates umpire Aleem Dar, who had a 100% track record during the World Cup Associated Press

Sri Lanka news

2011-04-06T23:59:00.000+05:00

SLC selection committee quits before end of term

The Sri Lankan team is set to have a new captain and a vice-captain, selected by a new selection committee

SLC secretary Nishanta Ranatunga clarified that the committee had resigned since it did not want to interfere with the selection at such a critical juncture when the team was without a captain. "They are willing to serve again as long as they are appointed," Ranatunga said. "But in the absence of a captain or a vice-captain they felt that the minister should handle the selections and they have given him the opportunity to do so. They have left it now for the minister to take a call on their resignation."

Ranatunga also confirmed that on its own, the SLC was not planning to interfere until the sports minister takes a call. "We will not appoint any interim committee or anything such," he said.

Jayawardene was Sri Lanka's captain before Sangakkara took over in February 2009. He had agreed to be Sangakkara's deputy on an interim basis for the World Cup. "I think it's time to move on, give the reins to someone younger in the team," Jayawardene told AFP.

SLC chairman DS de Silva said the governing body had accepted Jayawardene's resignation. "The selectors will sit down in the next two to three days to choose a captain and vice-captain," he said.

Angelo Mathews and Tillakaratne Dilshan are the top candidates for the captaincy ahead of a tough season for the Sri Lankan team, including tours of Australia and England. Sangakkara had earlier insisted that his decision to step down would not create a leadership vacuum in the side.

Razzaq, Kamran axed for West Indies ODIs and T20s

2011-04-06T15:30:00.000+05:00

Razzaq, Kamran axed for West Indies ODIs and T20s

Kamran Akmal's woes behind the stumps have cost him a place in the Pakistan side

Abdul Razzaq and Kamran Akmal have been axed from Pakistan's combined ODI and Twenty20 squad for the upcoming tour of West Indies, while senior players Umar Gul and Younis Khan have been rested. Shahid Afridi remains in charge of a team that will feature a new wicketkeeper, Mohammad Salman.

The Test squad will be named at a later date and it is expected that Gul and Younis - the former had asked selectors for a rest from the limited overs portion of the tour - will return.

Kumar Sangakkara

2011-04-06T15:28:00.002+05:00

Kumar Sangakkara had made his decision to step down as Sri Lanka captain before the World Cup © Associated Press

Kumar Sangakkara

Indian Premier League 2011

2011-04-05T15:42:00.000+05:00

Indian Premier League 2011

Tim Southee has been signed up by Chennai Super Kings for IPL 2011
for more click here:IPL2011

Sangakkara quits Sri Lanka captaincy

2011-04-05T15:39:00.000+05:00

Sangakkara quits Sri Lanka captaincy

Kumar Sangakkara has stepped down as captain of the ODI and T20 teams but has offered to continue as the Test captain on an interim basis for the forthcoming series with England and Australia if this is considered helpful for the new captain.

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Mathews are the front-runners to take charge of the limited-overs' sides, while Thilan Samaraweera is being discussed as an option to lead the Test team.

Sangakkara was one of the highest scorers in the 2011 World Cup and scored 48 in their defeat to India in the final.

for more click here:WoldCup2011

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Photos

2011-04-05T12:33:00.000+05:00

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Photos

BCCI president Shashank Manohar arrives for the ICC board meeting, Mumbai, April 4, 2011

Muttiah Muralitharan is presented with a souvenir by Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse, Colombo, April 4, 2011

Kumar Sangakkara smiles on meeting Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse, Colombo, April 4, 2011

The Sri Lankan team sit with their country's president Mahinda Rajapakse, Colombo, April 4, 2011

Harbhajan Singh is received at his home town Jalandhar, Colombo, April 4, 2011

The best World Cup of all time

2011-04-05T12:28:00.000+05:00

The best World Cup of all time

This was India's year, and they earned their win in style. But this World Cup was a spectacular success and would have been had they won the final or not

Four years ago in the Caribbean, it was said that the ICC got the World Cup it deserved. The 2007 tournament was a bloated, corporate, soulless sell-out of an event, infused with a noxious blend of controversy and apathy that turned the self-proclaimed Carnival of Cricket into a six-week wake. In Asia in 2011, however, the ICC got the World Cup that it needed, and that is not the same thing whatsoever.

By the standards set in 2007, not to mention those in South Africa in 2003 and England in 1999, the 2011 tournament was a resounding triumph. In fact, an impromptu survey of approximately 1.2 billion people might well conclude that it was the best World Cup of all time. Admittedly some non-Indian observers might suggest those findings had been skewed a touch, but try telling that to the jubilant masses who spilled out of the Wankhede Stadium and onto Mumbai's Marine Drive on Saturday evening, or to anyone who shared the scenes of delirium in every street of every city, town and village of the world's second-most populous nation.

The funny thing is, those 1.2 billion people are almost certainly right, but not necessarily for the reasons they might assume. Of the 10 World Cups to have taken place since 1975, none has come close to matching the narrative and drama of the tournament just completed - not even 1992, which is commonly cited as the pundits' pick to date. The greatest triumph of this edition lay not in the final outcome but in the journey that was required to reach that crowning moment, for the excellence of the entertainment was not simply an illusion glimpsed in the moment of India's victory. This would have been a World Cup to savour, irrespective of whether Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni had managed to turn the tide of the final in their country's favour.

All of which makes Monday's mood-darkening decision in Mumbai so incredibly hard to countenance. The decision to slam the door shut on cricket's Associate nations - in particular Ireland, whose role in the narrative was so fundamental - and revert to a ten-team formula in 2015, makes a mockery of the spectacle we have just been privileged to witness.

Ratnakar Shetty, the tournament director, admitted as much on the eve of the opening ceremony, when he let slip that the group-stage elimination of both India and Pakistan had torpedoed the entire event in 2007. Every available precaution was taken to ensure against a repeat of such a financial disaster, but when England tested the rejigged format to its absolute limits by threatening a group-stage exit at the hands of Ireland and Bangladesh, the doubts crept in. At the time England's struggles appeared to vindicate the tweaks that had been made, but at boardroom level it became clear that changing the locks alone wouldn't be enough to guard against future intrusions. It was time to roll out the razor wire.

india win the cricket world cup 2011

2011-04-05T09:27:00.000+05:00

The champions celebrate with the World Cup trophy, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

MS Dhoni watches the winning six sail over the boundary as Yuvraj Singh raises his arms in triumph, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

cricket worldcup 2011 2011 cricket world cup icc cricket world cup 2011
world cup cricket cricket world world cup cricket 2011

Yuvraj Singh can barely control his emotions, while Virat Kohli is all smiles, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Sachin Tendulkar takes a victory lap along with daughter Sara and son Arjun, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

MS Dhoni returns to a hero's welcome after steering India home, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

A proud Yuvraj Singh holds the Player of the Tournament trophy, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

India's celebrations continue in the dressing room, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina hold the World Cup, while Sreesanth holds the Indian flag, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Gary Kirsten is carried around the ground, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Sachin Tendulkar is carried around the Wankhede by his team-mates, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Tears of elation for Yuvraj Singh as he is surrounded by players from both teams, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Muttiah Muralitharan gets a standing ovation from the Indian team as he goes to collect his medal, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir walk with the trophy, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Zaheer Khan holds aloft the World Cup, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Gary Kirsten receives congratulation from his Indian team, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Fans in Siliguri celebrate India's victory in the World Cup final, Siliguri, April 2, 2011

Anil Kumble, who was part of four unsuccessful World Cup campaigns, is given a chance to hold the trophy, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Sachin Tendulkar holds aloft the World Cup with one of his long-time fans, Sudhir Gautam, April 2, 2011

MS Dhoni with the World Cup trophy on the morning after the final, Mumbai, April 3, 2011

MS Dhoni with the Man-of-the-Match trophy he picked up in the World Cup final, Mumbai, April 3, 2011

india win the cricket world cup 2011

Player of the Tournament Yuvraj Singh with the World Cup, Mumbai, April 3, 2011

india win the cricket world cup 2011

Yusuf Pathan poses with the World Cup, Mumbai, April 3, 2011

cricket updates

2011-04-05T09:11:00.000+05:00

Muttiah Muralitharan is presented with a souvenir by Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse in Colombo

Muttiah Muralitharan is presented with a souvenir by Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse in Colombo
for more click here::WorldCup2011

ICC confirms 10 teams for next two World Cups

2011-04-04T19:21:00.000+05:00

ICC confirms 10 teams for next two World Cups

The ICC has confirmed today that the next two World Cups will be 10-team events. The 2015 edition of the premier 50-over tournament will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and the 2019 World Cup will be played in England. Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's CEO, hinted that the 1992 format could be repliacated, wherein all teams play each other in a round-robin league, and the top four make it to the semi-finals.

The recently concluded World Cup featured 14 teams, and the league stage was played in two groups of seven each, with the top four from each group playing the quarter-finals.

for more click here:WorldCupUpdates

Dhoni the best captain I have played under - Tendulkar

2011-04-04T19:15:00.000+05:00

Dhoni the best captain I have played under - Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar has rated MS Dhoni as the best captain he has played under

Two days after India were crowned World Champions, Sachin Tendulkar has rated MS Dhoni as the best captain he has played under during his 22-year cricket career.

"He [Dhoni] is the best captain I have played under," Tendulkar said in Mumbai. "He is very sharp and always alert. He reads the situation well and is open to sharing ideas. He always has discussions with bowlers, batsmen and senior players separately."

Tendulkar, who has played under six captains, including Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, praised Dhoni's ability to maintain his composure whatever the match situation. "He is always calm and never shows his frustration. These are some of the human qualities which have made him such a good captain. He is a fantastic captain."

India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final in Mumbai after coming through the knockout stages with hard-fought wins over Australia and Pakistan and a patchy performance in the group matches. Tendulkar said that India had "peaked" when it mattered the most. "In the knockout stage we peaked at the right time; it was most important. We knew either the batting was clicking, or bowling, or fielding but everything was not clicking together, but [apart from] in the last three games. Everybody contributed, right from seniors to the juniors in the team. No one can guarantee results but efforts can be [guaranteed]."

After India's victory in the final, Dhoni had said the team had felt the pressure of expectations right through the tournament. Tendulkar said the key to handling that pressure lay in focussing on individual performances. "Pressure and expectation are always there, we were thinking that as individuals we should perform our best. We were not thinking that if a bowler fails, others will take wickets like that; we wanted to do our individual best and perform as a team.

"The responsibility is on all the team members equally. Like me, it was the dream of all the team members to get this World Cup."

Tendulkar said that while lifting the trophy was on the players' minds, the focus was on restricting Sri Lanka to a gettable target and "go through the process and finish the game". He said the pre-World Cup preparatory camp the team had in Bangalore also played a key role in the team's preparation.

Tendulkar paid tribute to the efforts of outgoing coach Gary Kirsten, saying that while he would like Kirsten to continue, he respected his decision to leave, and that the team would "miss" him.

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Perfect timing by MS Dhoni

2011-04-03T12:21:00.000+05:00

Perfect timing by MS Dhoni

The India captain certainly can't be blamed for not having a sense of occasion or timing, and he stepped up on the biggest stage of all

The back-foot punch was MS Dhoni's most favoured shot and helped keep the required rate in check

MS Dhoni had just sent the Wankhede Stadium into delirium by upper-cutting Thisara Perera for a six over point. That made it 37 required off 41, with six wickets in hand and the World Cup in sight. He dabbed the next ball towards point, took a couple of steps and stopped, and then hared across, realising Yuvraj Singh had come too far down. The single was completed, everything seemed all right, but Dhoni smashed his pad with his bat. The thud was so loud it could be heard from near the sightscreen, despite all the noise from the stands, where the crowd was going crazy.

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Mature India refuse to be beaten

2011-04-03T12:09:00.000+05:00

Mature India refuse to be beaten

Over the course of six weeks, and with their victory in the final, India busted a few old theories while proving several of their own ones right

Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina were battle tested by the time India reached the final

Just before the Indians left their hotel for the Wankhede Stadium and the World Cup final, six men spoke to the team. They were players from the Class of 2003. Each of them told their team-mates his own story about what had happened at the Wanderers that day, about the mistakes of eight years ago that should not be repeated. They had tried too hard, they had been too eager, they had allowed the situation to overwhelm them. It was a cautionary tale. Their words were few, short, and plain and they gave the younger, newer, less-scarred group in front of them a simple instruction: not again.

It is how India have performed at the tail end of the World Cup, looking at how their group stage had gone and saying "never again". So that in the last fortnight of this World Cup, they could find a way to ensure that their early mistakes would not be repeated.

It is often believed that finals somehow never turn out to be the events that are expected because the high stakes make athletes go cold and freeze up. Much is also said about what captain MS Dhoni called "peaking" in an event, which works more smoothly with individuals than it does with teams.

On both counts the Indians came off at the Wankhede Stadium, like the fireworks that lit up the Mumbai night seconds after Dhoni's bold signature six sealed their triumph. The final was the time when all the incomplete notes of India's World Cup performance fell into sync.

Gautam Gambhir, who had three fifties in the Cup but had not seized a game by its throat, produced his most convincing performance to lift India from the shock of losing their openers. He was central to two partnerships that took India from 31 for 2 to a six-wicket victory.

Dhoni, whose top World Cup score up until the final had been 34, strode out and did not leave the field until victory had been achieved. Of course Yuvraj Singh, the Player of the Tournament and the Indian team's totem through the early rough stages of the tournament, had to be with him at the other end. After defeat to South Africa in the group stages in Nagpur, India's biggest stumble in the World Cup, Yuvraj had told a friend, "I have to take us to the World Cup final. Just you watch. I'm going to take them there."

There they were. Not a familiar India, dependent on their batting, but a more secure, self-assured India, batting as if chases in finals were like having a net, except with a crowd cheering them on. This was India in their most accomplished situational batting performance of the event, chasing down 274 with 99 singles, 24 twos and even a three. In every knock-out game, India have, through sheer consistency of method, exposed the weakness of their opposition. They made the most of Australia's uneven bowling attack, defended against Pakistan by pressing hard in the field and forcing their batsmen to fumble, and stunned Sri Lanka by letting the weight and experience of their batting bear down, by taking the barest minimum of risks but making sure to always keep the score moving.

India's danger signs for the opposition in this World Cup lay not in their attacking openers or any flood of fours but in what their weakest links were able to do. When Indian fielders start diving, their batsmen start taking threes or sprinting surprising singles, or their most medium of pacers begin to repeatedly beat the edges and hurry batsmen, it is time for the opposition to worry. Or as the old says goes, to be afraid. In a World Cup knockout, that should have read be very afraid.

After the game at the Wankhede, Dhoni said that the World Cup win had ended a chapter in Indian cricket that had opened with the World Twenty20 win of 2007. "Right now we can close the chapter. We need to build a team again. Because of the amount of cricket we play, we need quite a few reserve players to come in and bowl. We need spinners and batsmen to be at their best because if we want to do well at the international level, we will have to try out quite a few players and not think about the result."

Two weeks ago the audience would have guffawed. Now it must nod in agreement. Today it is perhaps wiser to give Dhoni and India's theories the time to be tried out. After all, over the course of six weeks, with their victory, they have busted a few old ones and proved several of their own right.

That home teams are supposed to be jinxed in the World Cup and chasing in finals is only a prelude to a meltdown. The Indians managed both at the Wankhede, setting the benchmark for World Cup final chases. If playing at home meant enduring the growing weight of public hope, it was also about enjoying the familiarity of conditions.

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The night the World Cup came home

2011-04-03T12:05:00.000+05:00

The night the World Cup came home

India win the world cup 2011

India win the cricket world cup 2011:India win the cricket world cup 2011 after 28 years

India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

2011-04-02T23:41:00.000+05:00

India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

Harbhajan Singh and Virat Kohli can barely contain their glee, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

India-vs-Sri-Lanka worldcup final 2011

2011-04-02T23:38:00.000+05:00

The Indian team celebrates with the Cup that counts, India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai, April 2, 2011

India-vs-Sri-Lanka worldcup final 2011
wining moment of Indian cricket team

Dhoni leads india to world cup glory

2011-04-02T23:33:00.000+05:00

Dhoni leads india to world cup glory

The Indian team celebrates after winning the World Cup in a hard-fought final in Mumbai

India win the cricket worldcup 2011

India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai

2011-04-02T23:30:00.000+05:00

India v Sri Lanka, final, World Cup 2011, Mumbai

Tomorrow. Across India and Sri Lanka, separated by a stretch of water and a well-concealed rivalry, the word carries with it the forceful belief of possibility, shared between men and women, board room and assembly line, students and teachers, cops and crooks. The players, in their hotel rooms next to the Gateway of India, tussle against the idea of tomorrow, constantly reminding themselves to keep everything light: food, conversation, thoughts.

In a long, corkscrewing, exhausting World Cup, this suddenly becomes the best of times. Everyone involved in the World Cup final cannot escape the passing thought about how everything that they have done till now - picking up a bat or a ball, their first century, their first five-for - has telescoped into these hours. When it's done late on Saturday night, the champion will be swept away by adrenaline, the loser by regret.

Today, though, before it all begins, they will all feel like winners.

Just around noon on Friday, MS Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara descended from staircases, on either side of the sightscreen at the pavilion end of the Wankhede Stadium, to come together for an official photograph. They will walk down the same staircases for the toss on Saturday, knotted inside, their sang-froid a mere mask. On Friday, though, they were at ease; relaxed; Sri Lankan and Indian, lean and brawny, joking during the photo shoot, together hanging on to an 11kg silver and gold trophy that only one of them will be entitled to lift tomorrow. Maybe even the trophy was relieved; there were rumours it had been detained by Mumbai customs upon arrival.

Sangakkara spoke of a state of "controlled excitement" in the Sri Lankan dressing room, but he could have been speaking for everyone. Dhoni, usually glib, and often on auto-pilot with his media-conference replies, did have his Captain Cool cape on, but even he seemed a bit respectful of where he finds himself, "20 or 14 hours before the start of the game." Like he has always done, he will stay away from the bowlers meeting on Friday night, saying it helps him formulate his own alternative plans, if the bowling begins to fray on the field the next day.

He is happy that India have had a short and sharp two-day gap between the semi-finals and the final, saying it "helps you to not think too much." In the packed media conference room where both captains' press conferences were held, Dhoni and Sangakkara accepted that the contest had a greater meaning than the cliched "normal match". No matter what the price of the final tickets or how small the stadium, Dhoni said he knew every Indian would be watching. Sangakkara said victory would bring joy to a troubled nation, remembering those "who had down their lives for our country."

Dhoni reminded a foreign reporter of the truths of Indian cricket, telling him he had been swapping channels and saw footage of celebrations outside his house after the semi-final. "Not to forget that was the very house where in 2007 a few other things also happened, but that's what happens in India, so it's better to be at your best," he said alluding to the attack on his house after India's last World Cup campaign ended in disappointment.

India's best in this World Cup has slowly gained strength in the knockout rounds in contrast to how comfortably the Sri Lankans have gone. The lack of anxiety en route to the finals has not made Sangakkara anxious though. "It is hard to say which one of them is better for us [winning comfortably or through tough games]. We are happy that we are here. We have had to win games; we didn't get any walkovers in our journey here. We are pretty confident of the fact that we have been one of the best sides of the tournament."

The rivalry between India and Sri Lanka is neither as old as England-Australia, nor as fervent as India-Pakistan. Its ferocity lies not in its history, nor in the actual contest, but among its fans and the growing animosity among its diaspora. In the past three years, the India v Sri Lanka fixture has been repeated so often that it can leave the most diligent of watchers wondering, in jest, about what on earth could make this an occasion.

It was Sangakkara who spelt it out, saying the subcontinent, and the teams that represent it, is the "best place" to play cricket. "No other place can match the buzz, the hype, the excitement around the game. When you play a tournament of this magnitude here, it kind of lifts the entire occasion, makes that occasion a lot more glorious."

India-vs-Sri-Lanka worldcup final 2011

2011-04-02T23:26:00.000+05:00

India v Sri Lanka, World Cup 2011, final, Mumbai

India-vs-Sri-Lanka worldcup final 2011

Tournament's best at final hurdle