Co-hosts spar in curtain raiser

Match FactsFebruary 19, MirpurStart time 14:30 local time (08:30 GMT)Big PictureEvents unfolding in Port of Spain four years ago culminated in euphoria on one side of the Bengal border, and gloom on the other. With every dance down the wicket from Tamim Iqbal, little-fancied Bangladesh landed another blow in a series of blows that would eventually eliminate India, wearied by the weight of expectation and a discordant dressing room, from the first...

Beautiful Bangladesh - School of life

...

World Cup searches for certainty

Once every four years, cricket meets to do some ironing. Over creases and conflicts, differences and discords and it tries to set out its most perfectly coordinated wardrobe for its disparate, argumentative global audience. For a sport where a day's play can last 24 hours - the toss held in Napier and the last ball bowled in Kingston - the World Cup actually shrinks planet cricket and tries to flatten it out. Once every four years, the Cup brings...

Sreesanth replaces injured Praveen

Praveen Kumar, the India fast bowler, has been ruled out of the World Cup due to an injured elbow and will be replaced by Sreesanth. The decision comes a day after Praveen underwent a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore to gauge whether he had recovered from the injury sustained before the start of the one-day series in South Africa last month.Praveen, 24 had been sent back immediately from South Africa as a precautionary measure...

Morgan to miss World Cup with fractured finger

Eoin Morgan, England's star one-day batsman, has been ruled out of the World Cup due to a broken middle finger on his left hand, and Ravi Bopara has been brought into the squad in his place. England's coach Andy Flower announced the news at a press conference at Heathrow Airport on England's return from Australia, and confirmed that Morgan would undergo surgery that would keep him out of the entire tournament."His [Morgan's] finger needs to be operated...

Sohail Tanvir out of the World Cup

Sohail Tanvir, the left-arm seamer, has been ruled out of Pakistan's World Cup campaign after failing to complete a full rehabilitation from surgery for a knee problem that has dogged him for two years. He will be replaced by the promising young left-arm fast bowler Junaid Khan.A PCB medical panel, after looking into a management report, said that though "the recovery from a knee operation was good, during the [New Zealand] tour it was observed that...

Afridi named World Cup captain - report

Shahid Afridi has reportedly been named captain of Pakistan's World Cup squad, according to Associated Press. The decision ends weeks of uncertainty over who will lead the side in the global tournament starting later this month.Pakistan were the only side of the 14 participating teams that hadn't named their captain when the World Cup squads were announced in January, fuelling debate over whether Misbah-ul-Haq, the Test captain,...

Sehwag 'fully fit' for World Cup

Virender Sehwag, India's vice-captain for the World Cup, has said that he is "fully fit" for the tournament that begins on February 19. Sehwag missed India's five-match one-day series following the Tests in South Africa to attend to a shoulder injury, but says his recovery is well on track. "I was feeling some pain in my shoulder," Sehwag told Indian news channel CNN-IBN. "So [I thought it was] better to quit the South Africa one-dayers. I didn't...

Bangalore to host India-England game

The ICC has confirmed the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore as the venue for the India-England World Cup game that was originally supposed to be held in Kolkata. There was no change in the date of the match - it will be held on February 27. "This decision now clarifies and gives us certainty over the fixture," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said. "We can now work with our various partners and stakeholders to make sure that the match - along with...