The Cricket World Cup begins Saturday with New Zealand hosting Sri Lanka in Christchurch and old rivals Australia and England meeting in Melbourne.
After six weeks of wickets, whacks and willow, the tournament will finish with a final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 29.
Here are some things to watch:
INDIA-PAKISTAN, REVISTED: The great Sachin Tendulkar recalled a 2003 World Cup match against Pakistan in his recent autobiography, dubbing it "Battlefield Centurion" after the venue in South Africa. He said he'd waited for the showdown for a full year after the schedule was unveiled, and couldn't sleep for three nights before the game.
"The nation would brook no failure and for many of our fans this was the true final," he wrote. "It really did not matter to them what happened in the rest of the tournament."
India won that match by six wickets but lost the final to Australia, a defeat Tendulkar rated among his big disappointments.
Expect the stakes to be just as high, or higher, on Sunday when the archrivals meet in Adelaide. Local organizers predict the TV audience could be the biggest in history to watch a cricket match.
Pakistan has taken its share of ODIs against India but India has won all five of their meetings in World Cups, dating back to a 43-run win in Sydney in 1992, the year Pakistan won the title.
