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World Cup 2011 launched with fanfare

The 2011 World Cup, to be hosted in the sub-continent, was launched in Mumbai on Tuesday with fanfare by the International Cricket Council, with a member each from most of the previous winners present along with ICC vice-president Sharad Pawar and Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.

Clive Lloyd, the captain of the West Indies sides that won in 1975 and 1979 in England, India's 1983 winning-team members Balwinder Sandhu and Dilip Vengsarkar, Sri Lanka's Aravinda D'Silva who played a major role in the 1996 Cup winning squad and Michael Bevan of Australia, who was part of the team that won the crown in 1999 and 2003 were among those present.

The sound and laser show that showcased the key moments of all the previous World Cups was a breathtaking affair.

Lorgat sought to dispel fears of one-day format being overtaken by the huge popularity of the Twenty20 version, saying the limited-overs World Cup continues to be the ICC's showpiece event.

"The (50-over) World Cup is the flagship event of the ICC. What we have will hold up in the future," he announced to the audience which had several former Mumbai-based Test cricketers including Ajit Wadekar, Bapu Nadkarni and Umesh Kulkarni.

Lorgat also said the 2011 World Cup would be over in 40-plus dates and would involve 14 teams.