On this week's ICC Cricket World Radio Show, South Africa captain Graeme Smith, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara and India batsman Virat Kohli look ahead to this year's ICC Cricket World Cup which begins tomorrow with the first match being played between India and Bangladesh in Dhaka.
"To win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 would mean everything to me, simply to play in a World Cup final would be fantastic. It's not about the past or the future, it's about the isolated moment in time which is the ICC Cricket World Cup," says Sangakkara."It's about giving everything to this one goal, our hearts, souls, bodies everything to win it. As a captain it means the same, to win it would be fantastic, it would make me part of a wonderful team if we did win," he adds.Former India under-19 captain Kohli rounds off the show this week admitting that being part of an event like the ICC Cricket World Cup is something really special."To be part of the India squad for the Cricket World Cup is hugely exciting, it's a dream to play in a world cup, it's a privileged tournament, it's the biggest tournament there is and I don't think I can express how excited I am to be part of the India squad for this event."This event is about the best cricket playing nations coming together for one tournament, the crown means you're the best out of all of them, it means you're the best out of all those top teams. The whole world is watching and to win it as a team would be an amazing achievement," he says.The show can be used in whole or part by radio stations that want cricket content, while the public can also download it straight from the Joining Kohli and Sangakkara this week is South Africa captain Smith who talks about the importance of a winning mentality."It's important to have a winning mindset for this tournament, especially when there are four or five teams who could win this event. It's crucial to think like winners, we'd love to get our hands on a World Cup, it's important to have that mindset and give yourself the best opportunity to win the World Cup."I think the sub-continent is something South Africa have embraced, the fanfare, the different style of wickets, it's about embracing the sub-continent and its different cultures. Embracing the cultures here is something that I think we as South Africans are able to do especially well as we're such a multi-cultural nation and team," he says.
New Zealand captain Vettori is hoping for a good run despite the recent poor form of the New Zealand side. "It's a tough tournament," he says. "It will be a challenge and the team that make it to the final will have to adapt well and that's why the sub-continent teams will be favourite for this event."We need to put together some complete team performances with batting and bowling which we haven't been able to do recently. This event is the pinnacle of limited-overs cricket, people still aspire to win it and I know it means so much to the players and to stand there at the end and win a Cricket World Cup, I don't there are many greater things in cricket to achieve."Apart from these exclusive interviews, the show has the usual round-up of cricketing news plus an update of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test and ODI cricket.This show is a 30-minute ICC Cricket World audio show special and has been put together by the ICC's global broadcast partner, ESPN STAR Sports.
