India to host 2011 World Cup final

India will host the finals of the 2011 World Cup while Bangladesh will host the opening ceremony. This was decided in London following a meeting between the respective boards. In April, the ICC awarded the hosting rights to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Abbas Zaidi, the Pakistan Cricket Board director, confirmed the news and added that Pakistan and Sri Lanka will host the semi-finals. He stated that the purpose was to spread out the major events in the tournament to all four regions. India is due to host 22 matches, with Pakistan holding 16, Sri Lanka nine and Bangladesh six.

"We want to spread this World Cup as much as we can throughout south Asia. Sri Lanka is an important country cricket-wise and it is only right they get a semi-final," Zaidi told Cricinfo. "We didn't want to push our weight and try and get both semi-finals or the final because we truly believed that as the World Cup is being held in four countries across the region, each country should benefit, including Bangladesh who get the opening match and ceremony."

Pakistan hosted the finals of the 1996 World Cup in Lahore, when the tournament was hosted by the subcontinent.

Zaidi also confirmed that Sunil Gavaskar has been given a one-year extension as chairman of the ICC's Cricket Committee, after Majid Khan was expected to take over the position. "The move was to retain him for another three years but he has been given an extension only for one year as we feel other countries should get a chance," Zaidi told Reuters.