Fourteen teams, and one aspiration. Forty-three days of competition, with one outcome. The ninth edition of the cricket World Cup, which gets rolling from Saturday at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, will see Australia going for a fourth straight title after final victories sequentially over Pakistan (1999), India (2003) and Sri Lanka (2007).
Or will there be another champion from among a group of strong cricketing nations like England, South Africa and New Zealand who have never won the championship? More probably, will one of the three sub-continental giants — all winners in the past — be able to bely pressure and expectations and cash in on familiar conditions to bring back the coveted trophy? These are only some of the several questions hanging above this tournament, but none more important that this simple one: Will the one-day international format survive the onslaught of its still more abbreviated cousin — Twenty20 cricket —and the newly resurgent force that is Test cricket, or will we see the beginning of the end of the 50-over format? Clearly, much hinges on how and in which direction this edition of the quadrennial event will go. A repeat of the disastrous 2007 World Cup where cricket’s biggest market lost interest after India were eliminated may well turn out to be the final blow for the ODI format. The tournament then saw Pakistan and the West Indies too eliminated early, which meant that a massive chunk of its potential audience had already lost interest in proceedings. With excessive rigidity in planning, and high ticket rates that saw empty stadia and low TV ratings, it all combined to hurt the game like nothing had before. Lessons, however, have been learnt and the format has been tweaked yet again to ensure that the possibility of such seismic shocks is minimal, and that eight favoured teams advance into the quarter-finals.
The International Cricket Council will also be keen to see co-hosts Bangladesh — who authored the exit of Rahul Dravid’s India in Trinidad four years ago — get the best possible chance to move up as well since it is a nation where the national team are immensely popular and massively supported. In fact, the Port of Spain victory over India has whetted appetites immensely and expectations are high — at least in Bangladesh — that the Tigers will upset the applecart of their mighty neighbours yet again to give their quarter-final chances a flying start. All of this is only good for the game, and if the remaining three Asian teams also make it through to the round of eight, one can safely bank on unprecedented interest in the tournament in its catchment area. For India, too, this is a critical time. In Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team, the 1983 champions have a squad well-equipped to make a real run at the title, and, if they do indeed go all the way, it will ignite an even bigger outpouring of support for ODI cricket than the victory by Kapil Dev’s side 28 years ago. India are already the top-rated team in Test cricket and number two in ODIs. Even if Dhoni’s men do not get the top rating, a second World Cup title will give India the right to call themselves world champions for the next four years. Sourav Ganguly took India to the very cusp before faltering at the crunch in 2003 while the theory-mad Greg Chappell overrode his captain — and cricketing nous — to undermine the team four years later. This time, however, the signs are good, the Men in Blue appear ready and willing, and it may just transpire that Sachin Tendulkar, in his sixth World Cup, will walk away with the winners’ medal. At least that is what a billion Indians will be praying for.