NDTV

New Delhi, Feb 26: World Cup preparations are on not just in the participating countries and in the West Indies, but also in cyberspace.

The official website for the World Cup, www.cricketworldcup.com, was launched on Monday evening in New Delhi.

The deal between Maruti and Indya.com for the website was made possible by NDTV Media, the exclusive commercial partners for the site.

"It is really big, lots of cash. But we are binded by non disclosure agreement with Maruti and ICC," said Ajay Vidyasagar, Executive VP, STAR India.

The website, which can be accessed free of cost, will have exclusive videos, graphics, expert comments and all the news related to the World Cup in the Caribbean.

It will present a chance to play online fantasy cricket games, win contests and become the official commentator for the website during the closing stages of the tournament.

Special occasion

The ICC, world cricket's governing body, hopes that the figures of one billion hits and one million downloads from last year's Champions Trophy, will easily be crossed in the coming weeks.

"I can't imagine how many people are there in a million forget about billion," said Brian Murgatroyd, ICC Media Manager.

The target community for the 2-month long third largest sporting event of the world remains the cricket mad public in the sub continent, followed by the Australia, UK and the United States.

The occasion was made even more special by the presence of the actual World Cup trophy.