World Cup 2011 News

Michael Clarke must be fit and available for selection for Australia's second World Cup group stage clash against Bangladesh February 21 or he will be replaced in the 15-man squad for the remainder of the tournament.

Teams are required to name a 30-man provisional squad before finalising a 15-strong squad for the competition by 7 January.

India have rested captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the first Test in Australia next month. Former Australia bowler Stuart Clarke believes the team is focusing on the World Cup and the ODI format as success here would be most remembered and not in Tests Down Under.

He admits he may never play for India again but Yuvraj Singh says giving up is not an option. Player of the tournament in the 2011 World Cup, his life turned upside down when he was detected with cancer. He fought it successfully and emerged on a high but now faces an uphill battle once again - this time to make it to the team for the World Cup in ...

The organisers are expecting more than a million people to attend matches and more than a billion to watch on television.

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan says Sachin Tendulkar is the embodiment of the collective pride of India and his retirement will create a void for all his admirers.

Outgoing president Ravi Savant, who chaired the AGM, accepted Pawar's view and said the report will be scrapped.

Vinod Kambli says his childhood friend has always been passionate about cricket but Sachin Tendulkar in recent years was not the player he had grown up watching and playing with.

Michael Clarke, whose side beat Afghanistan by 66 runs in the only ODI between the two sides to date in August 2012, was delighted for the Associate team. Afghanistan will play its first-ever match in the ICC Cricket World Cup when it will face Bangladesh on 18 February, 2015 in Canberra.

Afghanistan join World Cricket League winners Ireland as qualifiers for the 2015 World Cup to be played in Australia and New Zealand. In the finals, they will play in Pool A against Australia, New Zealand, England, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Some of Pakistan's most memorable Test series wins post-World Cup 1992 include: 2-1 and 2-0 wins over host England in 1992 and 1996 respectively; over host New Zealand in a one-off Test in 1992-93 and 1995-96, apart from a 2-1 series win in 1993-94; 1-0 win over Australia in 1994-95.

A key reason behind India's struggles in Australia in particular has been their inability to adapt to different conditions and while Kapil Dev admitted that would be an issue, he felt his country still had the ability to become just the third team in history to achieve back-to-back World Cup titles.

India and Pakistan figure in group B of the ICC World Cup. The former champions clash in Adelaide on February 15.

India and Pakistan start their campaigns against each other and Dhoni feels his side's confidence will help the Men in Blue successfully defend the title.

The ICC officially launched the 2015 Cricket World Cup which will be held in Australia and New Zealand.

Having seen the youngsters perform during India's successful Champions Trophy campaign, Kapil Dev said MS Dhoni's young team did not let anybody feel the absence of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir.

The former India skipper feels that talks of considering Virat Kohli as an alternate captain must be put to rest while MS Dhoni is at the helm of the Indian cricket team.

The ICC WCLC features the top eight Associate and Affiliate teams - Afghanistan, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Namibia, Netherlands, Scotland and the UAE - and is a seven-round competition that provides direct qualification opportunities to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.