2011 Cricket World Cup

The ICC announced on 30 April 2006 which countries would host the 2011 World Cup. Australia and New Zealand had also bid for the tournament; if successful, they would have shared the hosting equally, leaving the location of the final still to be decided. The Trans–Tasman bid, Beyond Boundaries, was the only one delivered to the ICC headquarters in Dubai before the 1 March deadline, but the Asian bidders were granted an extension by the ICC.[11] The New Zealand government had given assurance that Zimbabwe would be allowed to compete in the tournament, following political discussions in the country over whether their cricket team should be allowed to tour Zimbabwe in 2005.

The extra time needed for the Asian bid had weakened its prospects, but when the time came to vote, Asia won the hosting rights by ten votes to three.[11] The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has revealed that the vote of the West Indies Cricket Board was decisive, as the Asian bid had the support of South Africa and Zimbabwe as well as the four bidding countries.[12] The Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported that the Asian countries had promised to hold fund-raising events for West Indian cricket during the 2007 World Cup, which may have influenced the vote.[13] However, I. S. Bindra, chairman of the Monitoring Committee of the Asian bid, said that their promise of extra profits of around US$400 million had been decisive,[14] that there "was no quid pro quo for their support",[15] and that playing the West Indies had "nothing to do with the World Cup bid".[15]

Late in 2007, the four host nations agreed on a revised format for the 2011 World Cup, identical to that of the 1996 World Cup, except that there would be 14 teams instead of 12. The first round of the tournament would consist of two groups of seven teams. Each team in a group would play all the others once, and the top four from each group would qualify for the quarter-finals.[16] This ensured that every team would play at least six matches.

As per ICC regulations, all 10 full members automatically qualify for the World Cup, including Zimbabwe who have given up their Test playing status until the standard of their team improves.[17]

The ICC also organised a qualifying tournament in South Africa to determine the four Associate teams who would participate in the 2011 event. Ireland, who had been the best performing Associate nation since the last World Cup, won the tournament, beating Canada in the final. The Netherlands and Kenya also qualified by virtue of finishing third and fourth respectively.[18] All 4 associates kept their ODI status as well as Scotland who this time failed to qualify for the World Cup.

List of qualified teams

The following 14 teams qualified for the final tournament.

Group A		Group B
Rank	Team	Rank	Team
Full Members
1	Australia	2	India (co-host)
3	Pakistan	4	South Africa
5	New Zealand	6	England
7	Sri Lanka (co-host)	8	West Indies
9	Zimbabwe	10	Bangladesh (co-host)
Associate Members
11	Canada	12	Ireland
13	Kenya	14	Netherlands

The opening ceremony was held in the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 17 February 2011, two days before the first match.

The 2011 Cricket World Cup winning team would be taking home a prize money of US$3 million and US$1.5 million for runner-up, with the International Cricket Council deciding to double the total allocation for the tournament to US$8.01 million. The winning team will also take home a replica of the ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy, that has been awarded since 1999. The decision was taken at the ICC Board meeting which was held in Dubai on 20 April 2010.[43]

• US$250,000 – Losing quarter-finalists (4 teams)
• US$500,000 – Losing semi-finalists
• US$1,500,000 – Runners-up
• US$3,250,000 – Winners

All the Indian stadiums for the tournament had been finalised by mid-October 2009,[44] and those of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in late October 2009. The ICC announced all the venues in Mumbai on 2 November 2009. Two new stadiums were constructed in Kandy and Hambantota, Sri Lanka, for the event.[45]

India
Kolkata	Chennai	Delhi	Nagpur	Ahmedabad
Eden Gardens	M. A. Chidambaram Stadium	Feroz Shah Kotla Ground	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium	Sardar Patel Stadium
Capacity: 66,349	Capacity: 50,000	Capacity: 41,820	Capacity: 45,000	Capacity: 54,000
	Mumbai	Mohali	Bengaluru
	Wankhede Stadium	Punjab Cricket Association Stadium	M. Chinnaswamy Stadium
	Capacity: 33,108	Capacity: 26,950	Capacity: 40,000
Sri Lanka			Bangladesh
Colombo	Kandy	Hambantota	Chittagong	Dhaka
R. Premadasa Stadium	Pallekele International Cricket Stadium	Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium	Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium	Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium
Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 35,000	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 26,000

Kolkata New Delhi Ahmedabad Chennai Mohali Nagpur Bangalore Mumbai Venues in India

Colombo Hambantota Pallekele Venues in Sri Lanka

Chittagong Dhaka Venues in Bangladesh

The umpire selection panel selected 18 umpires excluding a reserve umpire, Enamul Haque (Bangladesh) to officiate at the World Cup: five from Australia, three from England, two each from India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and one each from South Africa and the West Indies.

Each country chose a 30-member preliminary squad, which would then be reduced to 15. All the 14 teams announced their final squads before 19 January 2011. Sachin Tendulkar of India played in his sixth consecutive world cup, equalling the record of Javed Miandad (PAK).

The following 14 warm-up matches were played before the World Cup started.[46][47] For statistical purposes, these matches are not considered to be One Day Internationals.

Warm-up matches

12 February 2011 Scorecard

West Indies  253/8 (50 overs)

v

Kenya 192 (45.3 overs)

West Indies won by 61 runs R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

12 February 2011 Scorecard

Sri Lanka  351/5 (50 overs)

v

Netherlands 195 (47.3 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 156 runs Singhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground, Colombo

12 February 2011 (D/N) Scorecard

Canada  112 (37.3 overs)

v

Bangladesh 113/1 (19.2 overs)

Bangladesh won by 9 wickets Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong

12 February 2011 (D/N) Scorecard

New Zealand  311/6 (50 overs)

v

Ireland 279 (48.2 overs)

New Zealand won by 32 runs Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

12 February 2011 (D/N) Scorecard

Zimbabwe  152 (41.5 overs)

v

South Africa 153/2 (23.3 overs)

South Africa won by 8 wickets M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

13 February 2011 (D/N) Scorecard

India  214 (44.3 overs)

v

Australia 176 (37.5 overs)

India won by 38 runs M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

15 February 2011 Scorecard

Zimbabwe  244/8 (50 overs)

v

Ireland 245/6 (49.3 overs)

Ireland won by 4 wickets Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

15 February 2011 Scorecard

Kenya  263/5 (50 overs)

v

Netherlands 264/8 (49.1 overs)

Netherlands won by 2 wickets Singhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground, Colombo

15 February 2011 (D/N) Scorecard

Pakistan  285/9 (50 overs)

v

Bangladesh 196 (41.4 overs)

Pakistan won by 89 runs Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka

15 February 2011 (D/N) Scorecard

Australia  217 (47.1 overs)

v

South Africa 218/1 (44.2 overs)

South Africa won by 9 wickets M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

15 February 2011 (D/N) Scorecard

West Indies  281 (50 overs)

v

Sri Lanka 282/6 (47.3 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo

16 February 2011 Scorecard

England  243 (49.4 overs)

v

Canada 227 (46.1 overs)

England won by 16 runs Fatullah Osmani Stadium, Fatullah

16 February 2011 (D/N) Scorecard

India  360/5 (50 overs)

v

New Zealand 243 (43.1 overs)

India won by 117 runs M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

18 February 2011 (D/N) Scorecard

England  273 (49.4 overs)

v

Pakistan 206 (46.1 overs)

England won by 67 runs Fatullah Osmani Stadium, Fatullah

2 April 2011 (D/N) Scorecard

Sri Lanka  274/6 (50 overs)

v

India 277/4 (48.2 overs)

India won by 6 wickets Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

The final was played on 2 April between India and Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. India were crowned champions after winning by six wickets with only 10 balls remaining. India captain MS Dhoni was named man of the match after an unbeaten, match-winning innings of 91 runs off 79 balls, including the final shot that won the game. Gautam Gambhir contributed with a crucial knock of 97 after India lost early wickets. After the match, the Indian players paid tribute to Sachin Tendulkar, who was playing in his last World Cup. The final had a viewership of about 558 million people all over the world.[48]

• Bangladeshi fans threw rocks at the West Indies team bus as it returned players to their hotel after their win over Bangladesh in Dhaka on 4 March. It was later claimed that the rock-throwers had confused the bus with the Bangladesh team bus.[49] The elite Rapid Action Battalion of Bangladesh arrested 38 people after the attack, and the West Indies later received an apology.[50]
• The political party Shiv Sena threatened to disrupt the final in Mumbai if the Pakistani team qualified.[51]
• During the group stage match between India and England, Ian Bell was given not out for leg before wicket despite the ball hitting him in line with the wickets and being on a path to hit the stumps. India captain MS Dhoni referred the decision to the TV umpire, who confirmed the original decision as the ball had struck Bell at a point more than 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) from the stumps, a point at which the reliability of the Hawk-Eye system diminishes below acceptable levels. Dhoni later complained that the rule had deprived his side of what seemed like an obvious wicket.[52] The rules were subsequently revised and the umpires were given new guidelines.[53] The Sri Lankan captain, Kumar Sangakkara, later criticised the decision to alter the 2.5-metre rule while a tournament was in progress.[54]
• In the final between India and Sri Lanka, loud crowd noise prevented match referee Jeff Crowe from hearing Sri Lankan captain Sangakkara's call as the coin was tossed by Indian captain Dhoni. The toss had to be redone – an extremely unusual event, especially at as prominent an event as the World Cup final. Second toss was won by Sri Lanka. [55]
• In June 2020, it was alleged that the final match was fixed and Sri Lanka sold the match to India.[56] Former Sri Lankan Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said, "The 2011 Cricket World Cup final was fixed. I stand by what I say. It took place when I was the Minister of Sports."[57] Earlier, former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga also claimed the final to be fixed and demanded a probe into the matter.[58] However, in July 2020, the investigation was dropped, after no supporting evidence could be provided to verify the allegations.[59] The ICC added that they did not have a reason to doubt the integrity of the tournament's final.[60]

• Footage of the final match was purchased by makers and used in their film M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), a Bollywood film based on Indian captain MS Dhoni.[61]

• 2011 World Cup at ESPNcricinfo
• Media related to Cricket World Cup 2011 at Wikimedia Commons