Looking Back: Cricket World Cup 2011 Opening Ceremony - Passionate Bangladesh Provides Perfect Opening

"There were journalists at the ceremony who have covered cricket World Cups, Olympics, Asian Games, even football World Cups, and they swore they have never seen anything like this before. For a sport that has a bad history with opening ceremonies, nothing could have been more welcome.

Those who were not at the Bangabandhu National Stadium will never know just how successful and moving the opening ceremony of the 2011 World Cup was. Those who saw it on TV would have cringed at Sonu Nigam crooning an English inspirational song, Bryan Adams of all people being the top draw, recordings of Shankar-Ehsan-Loy's unremarkable theme song playing on loop, and the politicians inducing yawns with their speeches.

Those who were here, though, saw, heard and felt the heartbeat of Bangladesh cricket. What happened inside the stadium, sold out by 25,000 people welcoming the World Cup with open arms, was only a minor part of it. There were 25,000 other fans - and this is a conservative estimate, mind you - outside the stadium, with no hope or intention of getting in, partying away to their own rhythm of vuvuzelas, carrying Bangladesh flags about 50 feet in length, celebrating the World Cup.

The reception for the World Cup on the streets of Dhaka was the closest cricket can get to a football World Cup. There was no giant screen outside for them, the music could hardly be heard there, there was obviously no alcohol to keep them going, but they danced and made merry, choreographing their own moves. There was not an inch of space in about a kilometre's radius of the Bangabandhu Stadium. Nigam, Adams, Mustafa Kamal (the BCB chief) might as well have not turned up. The crowd either side of the stadium wall couldn't care less.

Then there was the laser show involving the towering 24-storey Bangladesh Development Bank Building . On a long white curtain, a cricket pitch was projected. From the top floor, men tied on harnesses came down. Two batsmen, bowler, keeper, slip, umpire, cover, midwicket were all there. One man was pulled up suggesting a bowler running in to bowl. The ball was a laser pointer. In one over of "aerial cricket", they showed a forward-defensive, an lbw appeal, a scrambled single and overthrows, a play-and-a-miss, and a boundary.

The best, and the most unforgettable, moment was when all the captains were brought in on cycle rickshaws. One captain on each rickshaw, with a young boy sitting beside him, waving to the crowd, and the crowd responding generously. They came out alphabetically, Australia first, with one exception - Bangladesh were saved for the last, and more importantly Shakib Al Hasan for the very last. Few present at the Bangabandhu Stadium will ever forget the applause that Shakib walked out to.

Put the applause for the other 13 captains together - and they were not stingy with any of them - but it paled in comparison. That noise was enough to know what the World Cup meant to the country. In that moment, the traffic jams, the poor singing, the long speeches didn't matter. Over to Shakib's team now to make sure the party goes on deep into the tournament. The people deserve it."

- Passionate Bangladesh provides perfect opening


Looking Back
February 17, 2011 এ Opening Ceremony দেখার পর আমার Facebook Status:

"Beautiful Bangladesh...সারা বিশ্বের বিস্ময়, তুমি আমার অহঙ্কার!"