2011 Cricket World Cup Mascot is Stumpy

The nearly 1½ month extravaganza, the 2011 Cricket World Cup will be held on the Indian sub-continent from February 19 to April 2. This is the tenth edition of the mega event, and will be co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Pakistan was also a co-host and was supposed to hold 14 matches, but was dropped from the schedule due to security concerns. These games have been distributed among the other countries. In all, there will be 49 games played in this tournament. The format is One Day Cricket (ODI) with 14 countries participating for the trophy (10 ICC countries and 4 associate member countries). The winning team stands to pocket US$4 million.

Now about the all important mascot for the Cricket World Cup 2011. It is an elephant. Even the Asian Games in Delhi in 1982 had an elephant named Appu. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had launched an online competition for the name of the mascot elephant. At an event in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the mascot's name was unveiled. Director of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Ratnakar Shetty said in a media release, "The idea of our mascot is to crystallize the feelings and action of the sport and the fans in a graphic form that reflects the visceral tone and emotion that Cricket creates in its followers, especially in an event like the CWC. It also emphasizes the enthusiasm of youth both in general and for Cricket itself, especially on the sub-continent with its massive and dedicated following. He's stylized to give an instantly recognizable graphic strength so that with exposure his bold lines and strong coloring will instantly create a friendly face for the CWC."

The 2011 Cricket World Cup will be broadcast to 220 countries around the globe. Don't forget to watch it LIVE.