Come February and the 2011 ICC world cup schedule will get underway. The mascot for this tournament is Stumpy. This mega event will be held in 3 countries - India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Originally, even Pakistan was a co-host, but they were stripped of this, right when there was a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in 2009. There will be 14 teams vying for the coveted trophy, and defending champions Australia will face a lot of stiff competition as they do not have the dominance they have enjoyed over the past 15 years.
This is the tenth ICC cricket world cup, and playing style, format, technology, etc., has sure come a long way since the first tournament way back in the 70s. This time's cricket world cup schedule is spread out from February to the beginning of April, so there is lots in store for all the cricket lovers around the globe. And for those who plan to go for any matches, and still do not have tickets, then it would be a good idea to check out the tickets online and grab them right away. We all know that matches played on the sub-continent are mostly houseful. But the format this time is - 2 groups of 7 teams each. Each team in a group plays each other once. The top 4 teams from each group progress into the quarterfinals, and from then on it is a simple knock-out affair till the champion is crowned.
Complete ICC World Cup Schedule
There will be 49 games in all, and the event will go on for 43 days. Let's have a look at the groups and then move onto the actual schedule of matches in the tournament.
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Group A Match |
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Group B Match |
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Quarterfinals |
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Semifinals |
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Finals |
ICC Cricket World Cup Groups
| Group A |
Group B |
Australia |
India |
Pakistan |
South Africa |
Sri Lanka |
England |
New Zealand |
West Indies |
Zimbabwe |
Bangladesh |
Kenya |
Ireland |
Canada |
Netherlands |
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ICC Cricket World Cup Matches
| Date |
Match |
Venue |
| Feb 19 |
India vs Bangladesh |
Dhaka |
| Feb 20 |
Kenya vs New Zealand |
Chennai |
| Feb 20 |
Canada vs Sri Lanka |
Hambantota |
| Feb 21 |
Zimbabwe vs Australia |
Ahmedabad |
| Feb 22 |
Netherlands vs England |
Nagpur |
| Feb 23 |
Kenya vs Pakistan |
Hambantota |
| Feb 24 |
West Indies vs South Africa |
New Delhi |
| Feb 25 |
Ireland vs Bangladesh |
Dhaka |
| Feb 25 |
New Zealand vs Australia |
Nagpur |
| Feb 26 |
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan |
Colombo |
| Feb 27 |
England vs India |
Kolkata |
| Feb 28 |
Canada vs Zimbabwe |
Nagpur |
| Feb 28 |
Netherlands vs West Indies |
New Delhi |
| Mar 1 |
Kenya vs Sri Lanka |
Colombo |
| Mar 2 |
Ireland vs England |
Bengaluru |
| Mar 3 |
Netherlands vs South Africa |
Mohali |
| Mar 3 |
Canada vs Pakistan |
Colombo |
| Mar 4 |
Zimbabwe vs New Zealand |
Ahmedabad |
| Mar 4 |
Bangladesh vs West Indies |
Dhaka |
| Mar 5 |
Sri Lanka vs Australia |
Colombo |
| Mar 6 |
South Africa vs England |
Chennai |
| Mar 6 |
Ireland vs India |
Bengaluru |
| Mar 7 |
Canada vs Kenya |
New Delhi |
| Mar 8 |
New Zealand vs Pakistan |
Kandy |
| Mar 9 |
Netherlands vs India |
New Delhi |
| Mar 10 |
Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka |
Kandy |
| Mar 11 |
Ireland vs West Indies |
Mohali |
| Mar 11 |
Bangladesh vs England |
Chittagong |
| Mar 12 |
South Africa vs India |
Nagpur |
| Mar 13 |
Canada vs New Zealand |
Mumbai |
| Mar 13 |
Kenya vs Australia |
Bengaluru |
| Mar 14 |
Netherlands vs Bangladesh |
Chittagong |
| Mar 14 |
Zimbabwe vs Pakistan |
Kandy |
| Mar 15 |
Ireland vs South Africa |
Kolkata |
| Mar 16 |
Canada vs Australia |
Bengaluru |
| Mar 17 |
West Indies vs England |
Chennai |
| Mar 18 |
Netherlands vs Ireland |
Kolkata |
| Mar 18 |
New Zealand vs Sri Lanka |
Mumbai |
| Mar 19 |
Bangladesh vs South Africa |
Dhaka |
| Mar 19 |
Pakistan vs Australia |
Colombo |
| Mar 20 |
Kenya vs Zimbabwe |
Kolkata |
| Mar 20 |
West Indies vs India |
Chennai |
| Mar 23 |
Quarterfinal: Group A (First) vs Group B (Fourth) |
Dhaka |
| Mar 24 |
Quarterfinal: Group A (Second) vs Group B (Third) |
Colombo |
| Mar 25 |
Quarterfinal: Group A (Third) vs Group B (Second) |
Dhaka |
| Mar 26 |
Quarterfinal: Group A (Fourth) vs Group B (First) |
Ahmedabad |
| Mar 29 |
Semifinal: First Quarter Winner vs Third Quarterfinal Winner |
Colombo |
| Mar 30 |
Semifinal: Second Quarter Winner vs Fourth Quarterfinal Winner |
Mohali |
| Apr 2 |
Final: First Semifinal Winner vs Second Semifinal Winner |
Mumbai |
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The total prize money for the 2011 ICC cricket world cup is a whopping USD 10 million, with a purse of USD 3 million is store for the winner. As per team rankings, Australia, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa take the top 4 positions, but you can never write off any of the teams like West Indies, Pakistan, England and New Zealand. Nevertheless, this will be one cracking tournament, and if you do not want to miss any of your favorite games, then I suggest you refer to the schedule given here and mark your personal calendars.
