Mumbai braces for `sick leaves'MUMBAI: India's financial capital Mumbai is bracing for a sick-leave epidemic during the cricket World Cup that begins in Britain later this week. The Cup kicks off Friday when hosts England play holders Sri Lanka, and for the next five weeks upwards of 80 million cricket-mad Indians are expected to remain glued to the television rather than the workbench. "Of course there will be absenteeism," said Vijay Kalantri, at the All India Association of Industries. "But then one can't really expect much else, as so many companies here have contributed to the hype through World Cup advertising and sponsorship," Kalantri said.Can favourites break the jinx?NEW DELHI: Ever since the mighty West Indies failed to retain the World Cup for the third consecutive time in 1983, winning the cricket championship has been a jinxed affair for the ``hot favourites''. Instead, ``underdogs'' have been doing the miracle since the third edition of the Cup. First itwere India at Lords, then Australia in 1987 at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta. An initially shaky Pakistan, who began the 1991 championships with a row of defeats, sashayed away with the Cup in the final. The last World Cup saw a lowly-rated team resorting to unconventional batting strategy to eventually become champions: Sri Lanka.Special prayers for the LankansCOLOMBO: The International assembly of the Young Men's Muslim Association (YMMA) of Sri Lanka has passed a resolution to offer special prayers during Friday's Muslim congregational prayers on May 14, when Sri Lankan cricket team begins the defence of the World Cup title in England.Designer watches for `man of the match'NEW DELHI: Every Indian cricketer winning man-of-the-match award in the World Cup will be awarded Swiss designer pocket watches by Sports Age India, a non-profit trust helping promising youngsters to excel in sports.
