Jinxes Curses
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India determined to break host nation jinx at 2011 Cricket World Cup
Warm-up matches for the 2011 Cricket World Cup will be taking place from February 12 onward, which means that anticipation is heavy in the air for one of the world's most intense championships.
There will be a total of 14 qualified teams competing for this year's world cup - Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada and the West Indes.
As India will be one of the co-hosts of the match, the country will be facing Bangladesh on February 19 for the first game in Dhaka. All eyes will be on this competition, because many spectators are wondering whether India can break what has been a long-standing host nation jinx, according to The Times of India.
The curse started in 1987, when Kapil Dev couldn't lead the team through to another successive win. When India hosted the World Cup again in 1996, the same thing happened - the team got to the semifinals and was defeated by Sri Lanka.
But this year, the Indian team is hoping that the third time is the charm and they plan to come out strong against Bangladesh, who is another co-host for the cup this year.
Many fans of the sport will send money to India before the games in order to place bets and give contributions to a relative who is eager to enjoy the festivities. This year, India is seeded second in the tournament and is part of Group B.
After Bangladesh, India will be facing another round of tough opponents - South Africa, England and the West Indies. However, there may be some relief found in the matches against the Netherlands and Ireland, who are seeded 13th and 11th, respectively.
Team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni seemed optimistic, but cautious.
"I never predict what will happen in cricket. We believe in each other and we believe in the process. We will take each game in the right frame of mind," he told the news provider.
England has recently suffered before the opening matches with the loss of Eoin Morgan. The 24-year-old batsman broke his middle finger during a match in Australia and will be unable to play any matches during the World Cup, according to Bloomberg news. He has been replaced by Ravi Bopara, who played with England in the World Cup four years ago.
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Fausto Gortaire is a writer specializing in <a href="http://www.xoom.com/default.aspx">money transfers </a> and <a href="http://www.xoom.com/default.aspx">international </a>affairs for Xoom.
