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New Delhi - India and Bangladesh clash in the opening game of the Cricket World Cup on Saturday as action gets under way at the start of a six-week sporting marathon predicted to be the most open for years.
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A total of 14 teams will battle for the 10th World Cup, jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, including all the major Test nations along with minnows the Netherlands, Ireland, Kenya and Canada.
India, highly fancied to lift their second trophy, go into the day-night match at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka against their co-hosts as strong favourites amid a tight security lockdown in the Bangladeshi capital.
The 1983 World Cup winners have an impressive 20-2 winning record against their South Asian neighbours but suffered a humiliating loss in the 2007 tournament that contributed to their first round exit.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni insists his team, ranked top in Tests and second in one-day cricket, will go into the match without the baggage of that five-wicket loss in the Caribbean.
The skipper said that the defeat four years ago had not even crossed his mind in the past few years.
"Frankly, I have never thought about it, but we obviously don't want a repeat," said Dhoni, who was part of the 2007 squad led by Rahul Dravid and coached by Australian Greg Chappell.
Dhoni said his team, with morale-boosting warm-up wins against Australia and New Zealand, were in a better frame of mind going into this tournament, and insisted there was no additional pressure playing in the sub-continent.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan brushed aside fears about taking on power-packed India, saying his side were confident of doing well.
"Our bowlers are in good form, the batsmen have been doing their job and our fielding has improved a lot," Shakib told a crowded press conference.
"This tournament is not only about playing India. We have six league matches to play and we have to perform in all of them. If we get our basics right, we will do well."
Security is tight with authorities desperate to avoid any repeat of the deadly 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team that still haunts the sport.
Around 20,000 members of Bangladesh's elite paramilitary force the Rapid Action Battalion and regular officers have been deployed in Dhaka for the first match, police spokesman M. Sohail told AFP.
"All cricket venues, airports, the nine official hotels and transport for all the teams and officials fall under our security blanket," Sohail said.
Memories are still fresh of the attack in March 2009 when gunmen ambushed the team bus carrying Sri Lanka's Test squad in the Pakistani city of Lahore.
Eight people were killed and seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach injured in the attack, which led to Pakistan's removal by the International Cricket Council as a co-host of the World Cup.
As well as security, there are still some venue concerns with Mumbai's expensively-refurbished Wankhede Stadium, which will host the final on April 2, falling foul of safety rules.
The Mumbai Cricket Association has been ordered to meet fire regulations by the time the first group game is held at the ground on March 13.
Wankhede is the second World Cup venue in India not to have come up to scratch.
Kolkata's Eden Gardens was stripped of the match between the hosts and England on February 27 after the iconic arena was deemed not fit to host the game.
That match was shifted to Bangalore although the other three matches scheduled for Eden Gardens look set to go ahead.
On the field, top-ranked Australia are seeking their fourth consecutive World Cup but have lost many of their stellar names and face a stiff challenge from the likes of India, Sri Lanka, South Africa and England.
"This could be anyone's tournament," Kapil Dev, India's World Cup-winning captain in 1983, previously told AFP.
"The conditions will favour teams from the sub-continent, but don't write off other sides. They have all played enough in this part of the world to know what awaits them."
Meanwhile, there are fears this tournament could be the last for the minnows of the game with world cricket chiefs intent on reducing the next edition to just 10 teams.
