The countries participating in the ICC World Cup are looking at it from different perspectives. Given that there are no groups for qualification to the elimination round, each team has to play a match against every other competitor. Each team will, therefore, play nine matches before their points tally and the difference in run rate will determine who goes through to the knockout rounds. Here is the itinerary for the tournaments along with the ticket charges for each match.

As is amply evident from recent ODI,s and the from the 2018 Asia Cup in the UAE, there are no minnows in the competition any longer. India and Pakistan have learned it the hard way when they were sent packing in the 2007 World Cup. Without the two giant South Asian crowd and audience pullers, the world cup was embarrassingly over for the telecasters, sponsors and the ICC before it reached the qualifying games. Notably, after that, the word “minnows" no longer appears in any press reports of the ICC and the other national cricket bodies.

The weaker teams in the contest and their players will be seeking to improve their ICC rankings, knowing fully well that each of them is equally capable of upsetting the cart as India did in 1983. This tournament is going to be fun to watch or follow with than seven months to go. Meanwhile, teams and their coaches will be going all out to see that they are fully prepared for the extravaganza. A careful look at the entry charges for the games involving India, as compared to others, will tell the story of where the motherlode is.

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