Mumbai, Jan 29: The Indian cricket team led by Sourav Ganguly left for South Africa late last night for the eighth World Cup starting on February 8. The team members prayed at the Siddi Vinayak temple before boarding a South African Airlines flight here tonight.
The 14-nation World Cup starts with an opening ceremony on February 8 while the inaugural match between the West Indies and hosts South Africa is scheduled for the next day at New lands, cape town.
The Indian team will be based in Durban and play its tune-up matches against a provincial team at Chatsworth, the most populous region in south africa in terms of Indian-origin citizens.
India are grouped in pool a along with Australia, Pakistan, England, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Holland.
India`s World Cup match schedule:
Pool matches: feb 12: vs Holland, Paarl; Feb 15: vs Australia, Centurion; Feb 19: vs Zimbabwe, Harare; Feb 25: vs Namibia, Pietermaritzburg; Feb 26: vs England, Durban; Mar 1: vs Pakistan, Centurion. Bureau Report