India take World Cup charge after Pakistan exit

ndia will organise a major part of cricket's World Cup in 2011 after Pakistan were stripped of co-hosting rights, the International Cricket Council said on Tuesday.

The showpiece event awarded to South Asia was thrown into turmoil earlier this month after the ICC removed Pakistan as a host nation due to security concerns, following the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March.

The ICC moved swifty to put the tournament back on track, giving India a majority of matches with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh retained as co-hosts.

"We are confident of organising a very successful World Cup," ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat told reporters after a meeting of the tournament's organising committee here.

The World Cup secretariat was shifted from Lahore to Mumbai, while the Indian cricket board official Ratnakar Shetty was appointed the event's managing director in place of Pakistani banker Salman Butt.

India will host 29 matches at eight venues, including one quarter-final, a semi-final and the final, Lorgat said.

MUMBAI, Tuesday, AFP