Sanga and Anura to repreent Lannka at WC opening ceremony [February 16 2011]

Chris Dhambarage reporting from Bangladesh

The city of Dhaka will come alive when the tenth edition of the International Cricket council (ICC) 2011 World Cup opening ceremony unfolds with a glittering pageant at the Bangabandhu National Stadium tomorrow. A capacity crowd of over 36,000 are expected to flock to the stadium for this mega event which will also be telecasted to a worldwide audience 220 nations around the globe.

Sri Lanka will be represented by captain Kumar Sangakkara and Manager Anura Tennekoon during the opening ceremony as they look to focus their attention on their opening fixture against Canada on Sunday. World renowned Canadian pop singer Bryan Adams will be performing at the opening ceremony along with his summer of 69 hit which is certain to make this event an unforgettable experience. Bryan Adams is the only western artists who will be performing at this gala event along with several other artists from Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. In addition the official song of the ICC World Cup will be sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Divya Kumar.

The official song of the ICC World Cup will be sung in three different languages Hindi, Bangla and Sinhala. This is the first time that the World Cup opening ceremony is held in Bangladesh which is also one of the host nations along with India and Sri Lanka. The ICC has sold the rights for broadcasting of the 2011 Cricket World Cup for around US$ 2 billion to ESPN, Star Sports and Star Cricket who have made elaborate arrangements for the live telecast of the opening ceremony from Dhaka.

The World Cup opening ceremony will have a great amount of significance as this will be one of the biggest events that Bangladesh will be hosting since gaining independence in 1971. The impoverished South Asian nation has also spent more than $100 million to tidy up for the tournament as they look to take advantage of a prime opportunity to rebrand a country often known only for devastating floods and cyclones.