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The Cup that thrills

Kapil Dev, captain of the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian team, was given the honour of unveiling the glittering trophy that the nine-Test playing nations will be competing for, come the weekend, in the Wills International knockout tournament at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.

''It is a good thing for the game that a non-0 Test playing nation - Bangladesh - which is not even a full member of the International Cricket Council, is hosting such an important tournament," the taker of the most number of wickets in Test history said on that occasion.

''Wills started sponsoring sports events in 1978, and I started my international career in the same year," Kapil said in passing.

ITC general manager K Dasartharaman said he expected the Wills International tournament to be watched by about 1.5 billion people worldwide.

The specially commissioned trophy, weighing about 6 kilogrammes, has been crafted in gold and silver and depicts how the game of cricket integrates nations. A unique feature of the trophy is that it looks complete from all angles, with the nine Test-nations being arranged in alphabetic order.

The trophy, which has been designed by Jaipur-based designer Arun Pabuwal, is about 22 inches in height, and is made from a base metal of special alloy, mounted on a rosewood platform and adorned with gold plated pillars. Most portions of the trophy are thickly coated with 24 carat gold, and pure silver has been used as coating in other parts.

The trophy has been produced combining the latest CNC technology with the skills of various award-winning artisans, using conventional manufacturing techniques.

The Wills International Cup will be the first ever one-day championship, outside the official World Cup, to feature all nine Test-playing teams.

It is also the first one-day international championship in the history of cricket to be played with the unique knockout rule.

Under the knockout rule, a team that loses a match has no second chance to stay in the race. This is expected to present a battle of nerves, with teams treating each match as virtually the final.

This will also be first tournament where the tie breaker rule would be used, in the event of the weather interfering with the game, to ensure that there is a firm result in keeping with the spirit of the tournament.

A total of $400,000 in prize money will be on offer in course of the tournament.

At base, each of the nine participating countries will earn $15,000.

The winning team will receive $100,000, the runners up will get $60,000, the losing semifinalists will be richer to the tune of $30,000 and the teams that win the quarterfinals will receive $20,000 dollars each.

Further, a sum of $5,000 will be set aside for the eight man of the match awards during the course of the tournament.

Agencies