The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 is all set to go. The event was officially opened last night with a grand and colourful ceremony. Former West Indian great Sir Garfield Sobers declared the competition open in front of a 10,000 plus strong crowd. This edition of the ICC World Cup will be held at the Caribbean Islands and will last for a month and a half. The matches will start off on the 13th of March 2007 while the Grand Finale will be played on the 28th of April 2007. Sixteen of the best cricketing nations will be testing out their skills in this battle of the giants. While the minnows aren’t expected to match the tougher opponents, there will be no shortage of spark and commitment.

The best phase of this world cup won’t start until the Super 8 Stage of the competition. The tournament will enter its most crucial period when the top eight teams will battle it out with each other while the lower eight teams would have already been eliminated from the tournament. The Super 8 Stage is scheduled to start from the 27th of March 2007. Until then, the only big matches to watch out for will be the matches played between two top teams from each of the four groups. From the Super 8 Stage, the top four teams will make it to the semis and eventually two of them to the finals. I expect Australia, South Africa, India and New Zealand to make it to the semis and from then on, it’ll be anybody’s game. Sri Lanka and West Indies are expected to give everyone of these teams a tough fight. I’ll bring to you more news from the world cup as it happens. The matches to watch out for in the coming week (13th-18th March 2007) are:

• 13th March - West Indies v Pakistan (Jamaica)
• 16th March - England v New Zealand (St. Lucia)
• 17th March - India v Bangladesh (Trinidad & Tobago)

I wish Team India all the best for their world cup campaign. It will be great if this Indian team is able to repeat the success, the glory and the celebration of 1983, the last time India won the World Cup!