(REUTERS) – Cricket fans watched in wonder as giant television screens were being erected across Dhaka in preparation for Bangladesh’s opening World Cup showdown with fellow co-hosts India today. Excited children gaped as workers hammered away furiously to put the finishing touches to one of the 14 screens being put up at a city intersection in the impoverished Bangladeshi capital.
Locals who were unable to get their hands on tickets in the cricket-crazy nation will see World Cup matches on 6 x 6-metre screens for the first time after city authorities decided to telecast all 49 matches to the masses.
“Things will be ready by February 19 to meet the desire of the cricket-loving people,” a spokesman of the Dhaka City Corporation said.
Officials were confident the live telecast on the huge screens will bring fans, enthusiasts and poorer sections of the 12-million strong community together for the February 19-April 2 cricket fiesta.
Six Group B matches and two quarter-finals will be played in Dhaka and Chittagong.