By BOB Goswami
BANGLADESH NEWS - Cricket-crazy south Asia has witnessed a grand, exotic and colorful ceremony when the 10th Cricket World Cup has inaugurated following a $30m (£18.6m) opening ceremony in Bangladesh. The 14 countries have participated in the tournament and all captains were paraded in Bangladesh traditional and most ubiquitous vehicle rickshaws around the Bangabandhu Stadium in Dhaka. There were about 3,500 performers who had demonstrated local cultures and different other programs.
The program was also entertained by famous Indian singer Sony Nigam, Bangladesh-based Runa Laila and Canadian rock singer-songwriter Bryan Adams.
The first match will be hosted by a modern stadium in Mirpur where host Bangladesh will fight against favorites India.
The tournament will be continued for six-week with 49 matches hosting by Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. Of the original four host nations, Pakistan was forced to withdraw over security fears.
The grand ceremony was more of an aerial cricket match where high flying acrobats hit and chased a laser-beamed ball against a vertical backdrop of a pitch. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hoped that the games would provide a good entertainment to people and memorable event.
The often messy Dhaka roads were quite light on Thursday as the government declared a half-day public holiday so that people could return back in time and watch the opening ceremony.
It is noted that Bangladesh has considerable marked its presence in cricket world in recent years with number of wins against top cricketing nations and that has helped stage the ceremony for the first time. The world cup features 8 matches in Bangladesh, 12 in Sri Lanka and 29 in India, including 2 April final, in Mumbai.
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