Monday, November 9, 2009

"Every cricketer wants to win WC"

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said winning the World Cup is a dream which every player aspires to realise in his career.

With the International Cricket Council on Monday making public the fixture of 2011 World Cup, Lorgat said that the preparations for the cricketing extravaganza was on track and the announcement of the schedule would give the staging associations ample time to get ready for their share of matches.

"A year ago we were concerned about the slow progress of the preparations. But things have started to move speedily and we are on track. Now every staging centre knows the schedule and will be in a position to prepare for the matches," he told reporters in Mumbai after announcing the World Cup schedule.

"Players will say they will play for nothing (prize money) in the World Cup. The World Cup is a prestigious trophy and it is one medal all cricketers aspire to win," he said.

Tournament Director Ratnakar Shetty said the organising committee had to do a lot of hard work after it was decided to host all the matches involving Pakistan during the league in Sri Lanka.

"It was an important day for the preparation of the event. We can now say preparations have taken off in right earnest," said Shetty, who is also the Chief Administrative Officer of the BCCI.

"It was a tough job for logistical reasons to schedule these matches as it not only involved teams to travel from city to city but from country to country too," he said.
ICC Vice-President and Chairman of the Central Organising Committee Sharad Pawar said the sub-continent offers great facilities for the game, sponsors, spectators as well as the media.

Asked about the possibility of Pakistan playing a match in India if they reach the knock-out stages, Pawar said the cricket-loving population of the country would welcome anyone to play irrespective of the political situation.

"I am confident the sports-loving population will welcome anyone and there's no exception," he said.

Pawar also expressed confidence that all the infrastructure would be ready in time to hold the World Cup.

"I'm confident all the infrastructure would be ready," he said, adding that the ticket prices would be on the lower side.

"I can assure you that ticket prices will be lowest irrespective of inflation or no inflation."
ODI vs T20

Asked about the relevance of the 50-over game in the wake of the Twenty20 revolution, Lorgat said the public would have devoid of witnessing a great innings like the one played by Sachin Tendulkar at Hyderabad against Australia recently had ODI been not there.

"If 50 over game would never have happened we would not have seen Sachin's exceptional knock in the Hyderabad match.

"Fifty-over matches are definitely here to stay irrespective of the other formats. If you go and ask cricketers like (Kumar) Sangakkara and Mahendra Singh Dhoni they would say they enjoy this format more than the 20-20 game," the ICC CEO said.
"There's nothing wrong with the 50 over game," he insisted.

Shetty too echoed his views and said the way the crowds have assembled to watch the India-Australia series shows that ODIs would never die.

India captain Dhoni, who was present at the function to announce the schedule, said the World Cup was all about how well the players can handle pressure.

"I don't have good memories of my first World Cup in 2007 (in the West Indies when India made an early exit). I have a side which is good.

"It's all about how well you handle the pressure," he said.

Dhoni also said that most of the youngsters of Indian team have gained valuable experience of playing in and around 50 ODIs which is a good sign keeping in mind the World Cup.

"Most of the younger guys have played 50-odd games with one year to go for the World Cup. By then they would have played a 100 games. It will help them in handling pressure situations better," he said.

He also said he would not be surprised if Tendulkar was goes on to play the 2015 edition of the World Cup.

"The way he's playing it would not be a surprise if he's around for the 2015 World Cup," Dhoni said.

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