Captains MS Dhoni & Misbah-ul-Haq share smiles during the Opening Ceremonies
By: Tashvir Narine
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will launch this Valentine???s Day from Australia and New Zealand with a bang. All fourteen teams have arrived and had a chance to see the competition during warm up matches from February 8th to the 13th. The teams have also been cast into two pools and each team will play six matches against the others in their pool with the top four from each pool moving on to the knockout stage.
Rohit Sharma scores century and a half against Afghanistan during warmups
Defending champions India will begin their title defense against rivals Pakistan on February 15th. It is estimated that over one billion viewers will tune into watch this episode of perhaps the greatest international sports rivalry in the universe. Canadian viewers will be allowed to view this match free of charge on Omni Television at 10:00pm EST on Valentine???s Day, (www.omnitv.ca) being the only free match from this year???s tournament. All other matches are available via pay-per-view or by package from your local provider. (See www.getcricket.ca for more details on how to view matches in Canada)
Pools A & B (Courtesy of cricwindow.com)
Over $10 million USD will be distributed as prize money for the World Cup, with almost $4 million going to the winning team. Co-host nation Australia and South Africa appear as early favourites however keep a close eye on the Kiwis from New Zealand and the 2011???s champions India as well. This year???s competition has the makings of being one of the best ever, as there are many exciting sides and perhaps the strongest media coverage of any cricket tournament in history.
pic via: facebook.com/cricketworldcup
Good luck to all the countries involved and tune into www.monsoonjournal.com for important updates as they happen. Enjoy!
