I think this deserves a own thread.
The People's World Cup
To no other city, no other country, no other people, would this World Cup have meant more. And there could have been no better place for this World Cup to begin its journey
Sambit Bal at the Bangabandhu Stadium
February 17, 2011
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The real deal was outside the stadium. Just to be there was stirring © ESPNcricinfo Ltd
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Bangladesh welcomed the World Cup the only way it knows, and in a way only it could have. Stumpy, the tournament mascot, rode in to the Bangabandhu Stadium on a cycle trolley and the captains followed, in beautifully decorated cycle rickshaws as cricket lovers opened their hearts to their first World Cup. Kolkata would conceivably have matched the passion of Dhaka but perhaps not its warmth and enthusiasm. To no other city, no other country, no other people, would this World Cup have meant more. And there could have been no better place for this World Cup to begin its journey.
The opening ceremony was a spectacle in its own way, but it was not about the spectacle. There wasn't an empty seat in the stadium, but you had to peek out of the stadium to get a taste of the real deal. Whichever way the eye went there were people, chanting, swaying, waving flags, beating drums, and blowing, yes you guessed it, vuvuzelas. If they felt denied, there was no trace of it. They waved at you happily, and beamed smiles back when you smiled at them. It was impossible not to feel their joy and not be uplifted by it.
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