The kit has Pakistan written on it in golden color with a black outline while on the back the same pattern is being followed for the name and number of the cricketers.

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MOHALI: Vanquished captain Shahid Afridi expects a mature reaction from fans in Pakistan when their team return after going down to India in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday.

“In my opinion we have played better than 2003 and 2007 when our teams were much better. Nobody was expecting anything from this team. I am proud of this team,” Afridi told reporters.

The 1992 champions have been unable to play international matches at home since the 2009 armed attack on the Sri Lanka cricketers in Lahore and the recent spot-fixing scandal has raised serious doubts about their players’ integrity.

The scandal robbed them of the services of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir and, understandably, few were prepared to bet on Pakistan winning the showpiece event for a second time.

“I think people have realised that we have put in our full effort. We have won six out of eight matches which is a big achievement,” Afridi said.

“We have confidence (in our fans). Our country has backed us so much. People who love you so much can criticise you as well. It’s not a big deal.” Afridi’s counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni recalled the fans’ ire when they stoned the cricketers’ houses after India’s first-round exit in the 2007 World Cup.

Dhoni said those were the moments when support really mattered. “We are here to entertain. We have always given our best whether it was the 2007 World Cup or the 2011,” he said. “We don’t really like losing and always give our best. We always need the support, especially when we are not doing well.

“We know when we are doing well, the whole of India is with us. But it’s moments like the 2007 World Cup when you really need the kind of support to boost the players.

“I still remember it took me over a month to get out of that kind of depression,” he said.

Pakistan’s captain Afridi on a rickshaw at opening ceremony of ICC Cricket World Cup at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka – Photo

LAHORE: Shahid Afridi will lead Pakistan at the World Cup, cricket chiefs said on Friday, quashing rumours that he might be replaced by Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq.

Pakistan last week announced a 15-man squad for the mega event, to be jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February 19, but had delayed the appointment of a captain.

“PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) announces Afridi as captain of Pakistan team for the World Cup. Misbah has been announced as vice captain for the event,” the board said in a statement.

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said the decision had widespread backing. “I had detailed discussions with team management and players in New Zealand regarding captain and vice captain and am pleased to state that everyone fully endorsed these decisions,” Butt was quoted as saying in the PCB statement.

The PCB’s decision to delay naming the captain had been criticised by former players and fans.

“It doesn’t make a difference whether Misbah leads the side or I lead the side because we both are playing for our country, I have never been after captaincy,” Afridi said earlier this week.

Misbah had backed all-rounder Afridi as captain. “I think Afridi has done a great job as captain and he has kept the team together and every player is contributing and wants to do well. He has led well,” Misbah said after his man-of-the-match performance in New Zealand on Tuesday.

Afridi, 30, who was banned for two matches on charges of ball-tampering in only his second match as skipper in January last year, has led Pakistan in 20 one-day matches, winning nine, losing ten with one ending in no result because of rain.

Pakistan are in Group A of the World Cup and open their campaign with a match against Kenya at Hambantota, Sri Lanka, on February 23.

They go into the tournament on good form after wrapping up the current six-match one-day series against New Zealand with a game to spare.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 will be the 10th World Cup. Prior to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, 9 Cricket World Cups have been organized by ICC. Australia have emerged winner on the most occasions – 4. Closely following is West Indies, who won the inaugural and the very next World Cup. All the Indian Subcontinent teams – India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won 1 World Cup each. Australia won in 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007. West Indies won on 1975 (the first World Cup) and 1979. India won the World Cup in 1983, Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992 and Sri Lanka won in 1996.

This is a chronological list of fixtures for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. All times local (UTC+5:30 and UTC+6). Group-stage kickoff times are subject to change for television or scheduling reasons.

2011 Cricket World Cup Schedule

Day	Time	Venue	Stage	Team 1	Result	Team 2
12 February	Warm-up matches
	09:30	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Warm-up	Kenya	Match 1	West Indies
	09:30	Kandy, Sri Lanka	Warm-up	Sri Lanka	Match 2	Netherlands
	14:30	Chittagong, Bangladesh	Warm-up	Bangladesh	Match 3	Canada
	14:30	Nagpur, India	Warm-up	Ireland	Match 4	New Zealand
	14:30	Chennai, India	Warm-up	South Africa	Match 5	Zimbabwe
13 February
	14:30	Bangalore, India	Warm-up	India	Match 6	Australia
14 February	No event
15 February
	09:30	Nagpur, India	Warm-up	Ireland	Match 7	Zimbabwe
	09:30	Kandy, Sri Lanka	Warm-up	Kenya	Match 8	Netherlands
	14:30	Mirpur, Bangladesh	Warm-up	Bangladesh	Match 8	Pakistan
	14:30	Bangalore, India	Warm-up	Australia	Match 10	South Africa
16 February
	09:30	Mirpur, Bangladesh	Warm-up	Canada	Match 11	England
	09:30	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Warm-up	Sri Lanka	Match 12	West Indies
	14:30	Chennai, India	Warm-up	India	Match 13	New Zealand
17 February	Preliminary events
	08:30	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Opening Ceremony
18 February
	14:30	Mirpur, Bangladesh	Warm-up	England	Match 14	Pakistan
19 February
	Group stage matches
	14:30	Mirpur, Bangladesh	Group B	India	Match 1	Bangladesh
20 February	09:30	Chennai, India	Group A	Kenya	Match 2	New Zealand
	14:30	Hambantota, Sri Lanka		Sri Lanka	Match 3	Canada
21 February	14:30	Ahmedabad, India	Group A	Australia	Match 4	Zimbabwe
22 February	14:30	Nagpur, India	Group B	England	Match 5	Netherlands
23 February	14:30	Hambantota, Sri Lanka	Group A	Kenya	Match 6	Pakistan
4 February	14:30	Delhi, India	Group B	South Africa	Match 7	West Indies
25 February	14:30	Nagpur, India	Group A	Australia	Match 8	New Zealand
	14:30	Mirpur, Bangladesh	Group B	Bangladesh	Match 9	Ireland
26 February	14:30	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Group A	Sri Lanka	Match 10	Pakistan
27 February	14:30	Mumbai, India	Group B	India	Match 11	England
28 February	09:30	Nagpur, India	Group A	Canada	Match 12	Zimbabwe
	14:30	Delhi, India		Netherlands	Match 13	West Indies
1 March	14:30	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Group B	Sri Lanka	Match 14	Kenya
2 March	14:30	Bangalore, India	Group B	England	Match 15	Ireland
3 March	09:30	Mohali, India	Group B	Netherlands	Match 16	South Africa
	14:30	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Group A	Canada	Match 17	Pakistan
4 March	09:30	Ahmedabad, India	Group A	New Zealand	Match 18	Zimbabwe
	14:30	Mirpur, Bangladesh	Group B	Bangladesh	Match 19	West Indies
5 March	14:30	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Group A	Sri Lanka	Match 20	Australia
6 March	09:30	Chennai, India	Group B	England	Match 21	South Africa
	14:30	Bangalore, India		India	Match 22	Ireland
7 March	14:30	Delhi, India	Group A	Canada	Match 23	Kenya
8 March	14:30	Kandy, Sri Lanka	Group A	New Zealand	Match 24	Pakistan
9 March	14:30	Delhi, India	Group B	India	Match 25	Netherlands
10 March	14:30	Kandy, Sri Lanka	Group A	Sri Lanka	Match 26	Zimbabwe
11 March	09:30	Mohali, India	Group B	Ireland	Match 27	West Indies
	14:30	Chittagong, Bangladesh		Bangladesh	Match 28	England
12 March	14:30	Nagpur, India	Group B	India	Match 29	South Africa
13 March	09:30	Mumbai, India	Group A	Canada	Match 30	New Zealand
	14:30	Bangalore, India		Australia	Match 31	Kenya
14 March	09:30	Chittagong, Bangladesh	Group B	Bangladesh	Match 32	Netherlands
	14:30	Kandy, Sri Lanka	Group A	Pakistan	Match 33	Zimbabwe
15 March	14:30	Kolkata, India	Group B	Ireland	Match 34	South Africa
16 March	14:30	Bangalore, India	Group A	Australia	Match 35	Canada
17 March	14:30	Chennai, India	Group B	England	Match 36	West Indies
18 March	09:30	Kolkata, India	Group B	Ireland	Match 37	Netherlands
	14:30	Mumbai, India	Group A	New Zealand	Match 38	Sri Lanka
19 March	09:30	Mirpur, Bangladesh	Group B	Bangladesh	Match 39	South Africa
	14:30	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Group A	Australia	Match 40	Pakistan
20 March	09:30	Kolkata, India	Group A	Kenya	Match 41	Zimbabwe
	14:30	Chennai, India	Group B	India	Match 42	West Indies
21 March	No event
22 March
23 March	Knockout stage matches
	14:30	Mirpur, Bangladesh	Quarter-Finals	Group A1	Match 43	Group B4
24 March	14:30	Ahmedabad, India	Quarter-Finals	Group A2	Match 44	Group B3
25 March	14:30	Mirpur, Bangladesh	Quarter-Finals	Group A3	Match 45	Group B2
26 March	14:30	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Quarter-Finals	Group A4	Match 46	Group B1
27 March	No event
28 March
29 March	14:30	Colombo, Sri Lanka	Semi-Finals	Winner of Match 43	Match 47	Winner of Match 45
30 March	14:30	Mohali, India	Semi-Finals	Winner of Match 44	Match 48	Winner of Match 46
31 March	No event
1 April
2 April	14:30	Mumbai, India	Final	Winner of Match 47	Match 49	Winner of Match 48

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