Only soccer rivals cricket in transcending the world of sport to become a deeply felt expression of culture. And in cricket-mad South Asia, a frenzy of feeling for the game burst open for the past two months as the Cricket World Cup 2011 was played out in host countries India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Fourteen nations participated in the tournament, and the semifinals featured what is arguably the world’s most heated sports rivalry: India vs. Pakistan. Collected here are pictures from the past few months of people playing, watching, and living cricket in several countries in South Asia. — Lane Turner
Bangladeshi fans celebrate outside the opening ceremony of the ICC World Cup of Cricket in Dhaka, Bangladesh February 17, 2011. (Kevin Frayer/AP)
R.K. Tiwari performs a candle-lit moustache dance beside a home made replica of the ICC Cricket World Cup trophy as a means of wishing the India team success in the tournament, in Allahabad, India on February 18, 2011. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Indian cricket fans celebrate as they sit outside and watch the second semifinal of the ICC Cricket world Cup between India and Pakistan in Kolkata on March 30, 2011. (Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images)
Indian fans celebrate as they watch a live telecast of the India and Sri Lanka Cricket World Cup 2011 final match on a digital screen erected at a roadside in Mumbai on April 2, 2011. (Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images)
Cricket Passion
Bangladeshi fans celebrate outside the opening ceremony of the ICC World Cup of Cricket in Dhaka, Bangladesh February 17, 2011. (Kevin Frayer/AP)
