The World Cup so far has been played on first gear and the fourth. While a few matches have seen close finishes, one-sided games have been abundant throughout the tournament.
A string of yorkers from Lasith Malinga to the broad bats of Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardene, World Cup has been a nightmare for the minnows with only the Netherlands acquitting themselves with an inspired show against England, who also played out that classic tied game with India.
Seven hundreds have been hit so far while Malinga and Kemar Roach have chalked up hattricks on consecutive days, but the story of the World Cup has been some of the incidents that have happened off the field of play.
THE PLAYERS
Tamim Iqbal, Wayne Parnell, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and some others have remained in the headlines for a variety of reasons that range from the benevolent to comical.
After seeing the picture of amputee Titu in The Daily Star's February 21 edition, Tamim gave a team jersey and promised a monthly payment to the teenager. Imrul Kayes also gave Titu a practice t-shirt but the other Tigers were not too far away in their effort.
Junaed Siddique, Mah-mudullah Riyad and Shahriar Nafees went to the Kishalay Girls School and College in Mohammadpur to attend the closing event of the 'Reading Festival' while the Ireland players visited street children in Rampura in another charity institution.
Being hosted in the sub-continent for such a long period, the World Cup also gives opportunities to some players to venture out, something made famous by the Australian legend Steve Waugh. South Africans Parnell and Hashim Amla visited the Taj Mahal while their teammates thought it was too long a ride to Agra.
But it hasn't been all rosy as Sreesanth and Ricky Ponting pointed out. After a terrible time against the Tigers, Sreesanth knocked off Yuvraj Singh with a beamer and an hour later, his shot hit India's bowling coach -- both on the wrist.
Ponting returned to his dangerous ways after he flung his 'box' at the television in the dressing room during Australia's game against Zimbabwe.
A book of caricatures of the Indian World Cup squad -- Stumped -- too was unveiled by MS Dhoni, aided by Harbhajan Singh, Virat Kohli and Piyush Chawla.
THE VENUES
From ambush marketing to ticket fiascos, the grounds have been the venue of more than a cricket match of the World Cup and the Eden Gardens and Feroze Shah Kotla are testament to that.
During the West Indies-South Africa match at the Delhi venue, the police decided that food won't be allowed into the stadium, starving thousands including players, journalists, volunteers and one very miffed commentator (Geoff Boycott).
And then as an antidote, the famed Eden Gardens in Kolkata decided to give the crowd something more to be interested to come to the venue -- a free health check-up.
With mainly smaller matches in the venue, the authorities will offer the check for everyone carrying a ticket.
THE PEOPLE
While the Bangladeshi people have told the whole world where the World Cup truly belongs through their invincible enthusiasm, others in India are not too far behind.
Forty-five couples, who tied their knot in a mass wedding in the Indian city of Udaipur, chose the World Cup as the theme of their wedding.
The grooms on horses carried cricket bats instead of the customary sword. The venue was decorated with Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni posters while couples went around the holy fire holding cricket bats and balls and after the ceremony was over, the brides were asked to bowl to their grooms!
The massive scale of the tournament also means that volunteers in their droves have been required and while most have (just about) done their job, one man in New Delhi won praise through his unique efforts. Dipender, a volunteer at the Feroze Shah Kotla, has been singled out in praise by journalists for the extra care he has provided to his work.
