Best 20 Knocks in World Cups

Top 20 batting performances from World Cups from 1996 – 2007:

The reason I am restricting the purview of this post to World Cups between 1996-2007 was because these are the tournaments that I viewed on TV. I watched very little of 1992 World Cup as well as was an immature cricket fan in 1992. So 1996 would the right point of departure.

I am going to do a countdown. So let’s get this going:

20. Saurav Ganguly – 183 vs Sri Lanka, 1999 World Cup, England:

This was the innings that established Ganguly’s credentials in the One Day Game. It didn’t appear to be such a high scoring game when it started. India had ambled to 28/1 in 6 overs when Ganguly went berserk. In the company of Dravid, Ganguly tore into the Sri Lankan attack on a small ground in Taunton and went on to make what was then India’s highest individual One day score until Sachin’s innings of 186*.  It was a scything attack and ended in the pursuit of the highest individual One Day Score.

19. Roger Twose – 80 vs Australia, 1999 World Cup, England:

It was an innings of purpose, concentration and defiance. The Kiwi bowlers had done well to restrict Australia to under 220 and the Aussie bowling attack of Lee, Mcgrath and Fleming were raring to go. Twose with help from Chris Cairns and Harris took New Zealand to a sweet victory over their Tasman rivals. This win would help the Kiwis to go through to the semis.

18. Kevin Pietersen – 100 vs West Indies, 2007 World Cup, West Indies:

It was a trademark Kevin Pietersen innings, flamboyant, swashbuckling and crowd pleasing and effective at the same time. England was chasing a stiff target of 300 and Pietersen’s 91 ball 100 single handedly carried England to the doorstep before being the 9^th man out. England won by 1 wicket.

17. Stephen Fleming – 134 vs South Africa, 2003 World Cup, South Africa:

In a rain shortened game, the New Zealand captain played one of his most fluent innings as South Africa were pushed to the brink of elimination in their home World Cup. It was one of the most graceful and stylish innings ever played in a World Cup game and that was the last we would see of the astute Fleming.

16. Brian Lara – 116 vs South Africa, 2003 World Cup, South Africa:

Once again the Proteas were the unlucky ones to be at the receiving end of an inspired Lara epic. Such innings were becoming few and far between but for the second time in 3 World Cups, South Africa bore the brunt of the Lara genius. His fluent knock helped West Indies triumph over the home team and dimmed South Africa’s chances of progressing to the next round.

15. Saeed Anwar – 113 vs New Zealand, 1999 World Cup, England:

One of my favorite knocks. Saeed Anwar  had been a very under-rated cricketer all his life. But time and again he had proved his value in gold to Pakistan’s success. This was one such occasion, the semifinals of the World Cup. Pakistan was chasing a tricky score of 240 against a sharp Kiwi bowling attack consisting of Geoff Allot, the highest wicket taker in that tournament, Chris Cairns, Styris and Vettori. Saeed Anwar ensured there would be no contest at all and Pakistan won by 9 wickets to storm into the finals.

14. Michael Bevan – 74* vs England, 2003 World Cup, South Africa:

A typical Michael Bevan innings. The One Day game’s greatest finisher pulled a rabbit out of the hat as he carried Australia through to what should have been an easy victory chasing 220. Bevan played with the last man to take Australia home and keep their unbeaten record intact after James Anderson had swung the game England’s way.

13. Brian Lara – 111 vs South Africa, 1996 World Cup, Subcontinent:

South Africa had won all 5 group matches and was in good form coming into the quarterfinals of the World Cup and looking for redemption for the injustice meted out in the 1992 World cup rain calculations. But they ran into a red hot Brian Lara who had had a quiet World Cup thus far. It was an inspired knock as he sent the South Africans on a leather hunt with a 94 ball 111. As a cricket lover, there are few better sights in cricket than a Brian Lara in full flow. A majestic knock that sent the South Africans back home.

12. Mohammad Ashraful – 87 vs South Africa, 2007 World Cup, West Indies:

Bangladesh had had a brilliant start to the World Cup with a win against India. They had to prove that that win was not a flash in the pan and that they were improving as a team. Ashraful showed his precocious talent with an 83 ball 87 that helped Bangladesh beat the South Africans. It was a very good knock from a confident young man.

11. Sachin Tendulkar – 137 vs Sri Lanka, 1996 World cup, Subcontinent:

We had seen the talented young man play in the 1992 World Cup. But this was the World Cup where the Little Master began asserting his landlord rights over this format of the game. He dazzled the world with his hitting as he took India from 171/2 in 40 overs to 271/2 in 50 overs, very rare in those days. Pace or spin did not seem to matter to him as he had so much time to play his shots. The master had arrived bright and regal.

10. Sanath Jayasuriya – 79 vs India, 1996 World Cup, Subcontinent:

Sachin had helped India go to 271. Jayasuriya’s much talked about pinch-hitting ensured Manoj Prabhakar did not play cricket again. As we all know, it was incredible hitting. You’d wonder for years to come whether those wrists and arms of his are made of skin and bones or iron and steel. This was Jayasuriya’s World Cup and his innings helped Sri Lanka chase a tough target.

9. Sachin Tendulkar – 90 vs Australia, 1996 World Cup, Subcontinent:

We had seen Sachin hitting a century against Kenya and Australia were bracing themselves to face the champion. It was majestic batting from the Master that kept India in the game chasing 240 in front of his home crowd. People were stupefied that this man could score so quickly with such a good technique and proper cricketing shots.

8. Andrew Symonds – 143* vs Pakistan, 2003 World Cup, South Africa:

A terrific innings under pressure, Symonds carried Australia through from 43/4 to over 300. Against a bowling attack of the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar, symonds waded into the bowling to hit a magnificent hundred.

7. Sanath Jayasuriya – 82 vs England, 1996 World Cup, Subcontinent:

One of the most destructive innings you’ll ever see in a One Day game. Sanath Jayasuriya tore a hapless England attack as he plundered 82 off only 44 balls. England had come into the quarterfinals of the World Cup with dreams of going big. But Jayasuriya simply blew them away, initially with the ball and then with the bat as hen ensured an easy run chase for Sri Lanka.

6. Steve Waugh – 120* vs South Africa, 1999 World Cup, England:

A match-winning innings from the Ultimate Crisis man in cricket, this would go on to be the World Cup defining innings for Australia as they successfully chased South Africa’s 270 target and the win would help them sail through to the finals after the famously tied semis. Not only was it a composed innings but we saw some calculated hitting from Steve Waugh as he scored his 120* off only 110 balls on a difficult batting pitch against the likes of Donald, Pollock, Ntini and Klusener. The innings became more popular with Steve Waugh’s alleged comments of  “You’ve just dropped your World Cup mate” to Gibbs.

5. Sachin Tendulkar – 98 vs Pakistan, 2003 World Cup, South Africa:

When Pakistan scored 270 odd, Tendulkar went in like a man on a mission. He took the Pakistan attack to the cleaners. One of the most fearsome bowling attacks in the world consisting of Akram, Waqar and Shoaib Akhtar was made to look pedestrian as the Little Genius put India on the road to victory with a blistering knock of 98 off 75 balls before hamstring injury and an Akhtar snorter cut short his innings. But it would be remembered as one of the most calculated assaults on some of the best bowlers of all time. It is my favorite Sachin innings in a World Cup.

4. Aravinda DeSilva – 66 vs India, 1996 World Cup, Subcontinent:

A brilliant counter attacking innings after Sri Lanka were 1 for 2 with both openers dismissed in the 1^st over. De Silva smashed the Indian bowling as he made 66 from only 47 balls as he helped Sri Lanka set up a match winning total of 251. An innings of substance under pressure from a great technician of the game.

3. Adam Gilchrist – 149 vs Sri Lanka, 2007 World Cup, West Indies:

The innings that had taken a long time coming. Adam Gilchrist had taken the One Day world by storm 10 years earlier but his calling did not come until the World Cup finals of 2007. He had not had a spectacular World Cup and there were calls for his head. But in a rain shortened game, he put his squash ball in his gloves and began swatting the Sri Lankan bowling around. It was an innings that did not stay in people’s memory because the entire World Cup was a non-descript World Cup. It bore the Gilly stamp all the same.

2. Ricky Ponting – 146* vs India, 2003 World Cup, South Africa:

Ricky Ponting could not have written the script better. It was his first World Cup final as Captain, Gilchrist had laid a very good platform and the wicket was a batting beauty. Ponting tore into a lackadaisical Indian bowling and sent them screeching to all parts of the ground. The highest individual score in a Final, it was a remarkable innings of authority from the Aussie skipper. He ensured the Finals were pocketed after the Aussie innings ended at 359/2. It was one of the best example of leading from the front.

1. Aravinda De Silva – 107* vs Australia, 1996 World Cup, Subcontinent:

Well this innings scores over Ricky Ponting’s for the sheer magnitude of the occasion for Sri Lankan cricket as well as the quality of the bowling attack.

Sri Lanka was going through a tempestuous political time and Australia and West Indies had refused to play in the Emerald Isle. They had reached the finals with a simple gameplan. Restrict the opponents to a decent score with spinners, bat second, hit the first 15 overs for as many and then consolidate. It was a strategy that had worked for them. They were in the final facing a fancied Aussie team consisting of stalwarts like Taylor, Ponting, the Waugh brothers, Mcgrath and Warne. The spinners had done well to restrict Australia to 241. Jayasuriya had fallen cheaply. Aravinda De Silva took his calling and played one of the best knocks you’ll ever see on such a momentous occasion as a World Cup final. A chanceless unbeaten 107 off just 124 balls took Sri Lanka home with 7 wickets to spare and changed the face of Sri Lankan cricket forever. One of my all time favorite one day innings, it was a lesson in batting under pressure.

The World Cup Build Up- Part One: A Look Back

What better time to start the build up to the world cup with just over a month to go for the event.


I was wondering how I wanted to build this build up. And then I thought it will make sense to do the proverbial cliché – begin at the beginning!!

1975 World Cup:

The inaugural Prudential World Cup as it was called after the sponsors of the event Prudential Assurance Company was at that time, a shortened version of Test match cricket. The traditional white clothes, red cricket ball and 60 overs a side was just an attempt to get a result within one day. England hosted the tournament as the only country with the financial capability at that time to host such a big tournament. There were three notable incidences in that World Cup.

1. Sunil Gavaskar’s 36 not out in 60 overs: It was really a bizarre batting performance in the very first match of the tournament. England had amassed 334/4 in 60 overs with Dennis Amiss and Keith Fletcher making centuries. Gavaskar carried his bat through an Indian innings that ended at 132/3 in 60 overs. Not even Gavaskar can explain what he was trying to do that day.

2. Clive Lloyd’s 102 in the final: One of the most accomplished batting displays in the World Cup came from the man they called “Big Cat”, West Indies captain Clive Lloyd. Coming to the crease at 50/3, Lloyd played a fabulous knock with sublime strokes all around the wicket to score 102 out of a partnership of 149 with Rohan Kanhai.

3. The rise of West Indies: West Indies won the tournament by 16 runs with some good bowling by Keith Boyce, Andy Roberts and Lloyd himself. This was the beginning of a period of great glory for West Indies cricket. A young Vivian Richards impressed everyone with his fielding effecting 3 run outs in the final. The King was waiting to be crowned.

1979 World Cup:

Again there were only 8 teams in the tournament with Canada replacing East Africa in the lineup. England hosted the tournament again. Australia sent in an unknown team following the breakaway Kerry Packer series and played poorly to go out in the group stage. Gordon Greenidge began the tournament with a fluent hundred as West Indies steam rolled India in the opener with Holding taking 4 wickets and Roberts and Garner coming together to form a feared bowling attack. Sri Lanka surprised India with half centuries from Sidhath Wetimuny, Roy Dias and Duleep Mendis. Pakistan reached the semi finals for the first time but ran into a rampaging Greenidge and Haynes. Vivian Richards rescued the final from 99/4 with a belligerent innings of 138 along with Collis King who smashed the England attack. England had no chance after such a slow start by Mike Brearly and Geoff Boycott. West Indies were crowned champions for the second time running and yet one could feel that there was more to come from the Calypso kings.

1983 World Cup:

England played host again as 8 teams including Zimbabwe who replaced East Africa participated. This time it was a double round robin format with each team playing the others twice and the top 2 teams from each group went to the semifinals. England began the tournament well with over 300 scores in the first 2 games with Alan Lamb and David Gower scoring tons respectively. India shocked the world by beating the champion West Indies team in their opening match with Yashpal Sharma scoring a brisk 80 odd and Ravi Shastry’s left arm diagonals fetching him 3 vital wickets but West Indies hit back in their return match with Richards’ 119 crushing India. Australia’s disastrous loss to Zimbabwe in the opening match hampered their chances. Kapil Dev played one of the greatest One Day knocks ever with his 175 not out against Zimbabwe which however has no videos at all and so lost for viewing.

Mohinder Amarnath was the real star of the semifinal with his all-round performance as India beat England while in the other semifinal Pakistan found the fiery West Indian pace quartet of Roberts, Holding, Garner and Marshall too good to handle. Richards’ half century carried West Indies through to their third consecutive finals easily. A lot has been said about the final but it was a truly remarkable final for the sheer self-belief displayed by the Indians. Kapil Dev deserves a lot of the credit for holding together a team which was considered 60-1 outsiders when the tournament began.

A paltry score of 183 was being taken apart by Richards with his magical batting. The world will remember that knock for the sheer beauty and domination of Viv Richards’ batting. Richards did play for a few years after this World Cup but none was as graceful or as gorgeous as the way he played in this tournament especially the semifinals and the finals. With his typical swagger walk, chewing gum all the way through, hitting balls outside off stump towards midwicket and square leg with the grace of a ballerina, Richards was the King of the game at his peak. Even to this day, I would love watching those 33 runs in the final as much as I love to watch the Indian victory.

Kapil Dev’s running catch has been much talked about. And rightly so because in that era India fielding was nothing to be proud of. And hence that catch was truly remarkable. The true impact of that world cup triumph for me is the rise of the financial dominance of the Indian Cricket Board and I do not mean this in any negative sense. All of a sudden, cricketers were national sporting heroes and cricket administration became that much a fancied and at the same time difficult task. But thankfully India had some good administrators in Chando Borde, Lala Amarnath, Raj Singh Dungarpur, Madhavrao Scindia et al.

1987 Reliance World Cup:

When the World Cup came to the sub continent, it became a festival with India being the defending champions and Pakistan beginning to build a good team and Sri Lanka unearthing new stars every year. It was reduced to 50 overs a side contest with the same 8 teams that played the 1983 World Cup. It was however the first non-summer world cup landing bang in the monsoon season of October- November. Pakistan began the tournament with a win against Sri Lanka through Javed Miandad’s century. India lost by 1 run to Australia. West Indies unearthed their next batting stalwart in Richie Richardson but began badly by losing to England. However they bounced back in the next game against Lanka with Richards scoring a world record 181. They lost their next game to Pakistan but Courtney Walsh’s sporting gesture in not running out Pakistan’s Saleem Jaffar who had backed up too far was praised by all. Courtney Walsh was showing the world the abilities and the sportsmanship that was going to make him the gentle giant of the future. Another great fast bowler in the making, Wasim Akram debuted for Pakistan. Allan Border built a strong Aussie team consisting of solid batsman like Boon, Dean Jones, Border himself and Steve Waugh and clever bowlers like McDermott and Tim May. This was the beginning of Aussie resurgence in international cricket. They beat Pakistan easily in the semifinals despite Miandad’s 70. England rode on Graham Gooch’s hundred to beat India on the other semis. Steve Waugh emerged as a game breaker in the finals with both batting and bowling.

1992 Benson & Hedges World Cup:

In many ways this was a pioneer World Cup to the modern day One Day game. Kerry Packer’s series had already introduced the world to colored clothing. But it was implemented in the One Day Game for the first time in this World Cup. Australia and New Zealand co-hosted the first World Cup in the southern hemisphere. White balls, black sightscreen and floodlit games were to become the norm of the game soon. South Africa had been readmitted to the International Sporting events and the world cup grouping was altered to include the Proteas. Thereby it changed the previous system of 2 groups. Now the formula was a simple each play all in the round robin stage with the top 4 teams moving to the semifinals.

Martin Crowe introduced two game breaking strategies to the One Day version- introducing a spinner Dipak Patel to open the bowling and sending Mark Greatbatch as a pinch hitter at the top of the order. Both these tactics have now become a part of captain’s alternate strategies- successfully employed by Sri Lanka in 1996. Martin Crowe himself led with the bat as the Kiwis turned out to be the surprise package winning 7 matches out of their 8 group games and emerging as the top team beating the Aussies in the very first game. India never got going in the World Cup and ended up winning only 2 games. A lot of the games were affected by rain. A new calculation system was introduced for matches affected by rain. But it proved to be disastrous.

The World Cup stood out for many significant memories and ignition points:

1. Birth of new age superstars: This was the tournament that saw superstars being born for different teams who would go on to do great things over the next decade- Sachin Tendulkar was showing the world his precocious talent and everyone began to sit up and take notice of his remarkable batsmanship; Brian Lara was showing glimpses of the graceful genius his batting could conjure; Aravinda DeSilva was displaying his impeccable consistency. Steve and Mark Waugh were ready to take on the mantle of the great Aussie tradition; Inzamam Ul Haq exhibited the laidback lazy wizardry his batting would go on to symbolize in the next decade; Wasim Akram was blossoming into the greatest left arm fast bowler since Derek Underwood; Waqar Younis was churning out those potent yorkers; Chaminda Vaas was honing his diverse bowling skills.

2. Great Captaincy: This was one world cup where we saw fine captaincy exhibited by most captains. Ground breaking strategies, street smart thinking and innovative execution all made this world cup memorable. Aravinda DeSilva and Arjuna Ranatunga , Martin Crowe, Kepler Wessels and most notable of all Imran Khan all contributed as players and captain.

3. The Human Missile or the Flying Machine: More than any other aspect of this World Cup, what caught people’s imagination was the man they called the Human Missile or Flying Machine- yes a certain Jonathan ‘Jonty’ Rhodes. Certainly we had seen some brilliant fielding over the years especially Viv Richards’ 3 run outs in the 1975 World Cup but we had not seen anything close to what Rhodes did in this World Cup. His fielding was electrifying and no one can forget the flying run out of Inzamam Ul Haq. Next day, the papers showed a picture of Jonty in the air and the caption below read- “Is it a bird? Is it a missile? No it’s Jonty Rhodes”. Move over Mr.Superman, here’s the newest version. Fielding as a dimension of cricket was altered forever.

England had played well to edge out West Indies to the semifinal. South Africa was deservedly there. Pakistand and New Zealand teed off in the other semifinal. And what happened in the first semifinal is part of cricketing folklore now. The flawed rain calculation system left South Africa needing 22 runs off 1 ball from a perfectly gettable 22 runs of 13 balls. And in the other semifinal Inzamam Ul Haq scripted a fantasy of a knock in the company of the trusted soldier Javed Miandad to take Pakistan into the finals.

In the finals, Imran Khan led from the front with a brave captain’s knock to get Pakistan a respectable score with some help by Inzy. And then he captained brilliantly by rotating his bowlers and having innovative field placements. Wasim Akram destroyed English hopes with his 3 wicket burst.

1996 Wills World Cup:

The subcontinent played host to a world cup engulfed in terror threats and bombing in Sri Lanka with Australia and West Indies refusing to play in the island nation. 12 teams entered the tournament with UAE, Netherlands and Kenya making their debuts in the World Cup. It was split into 2 groups of 6 teams each with the top 4 teams from each group making it to the quarterfinal. Sri Lanka used the pinch hitting concept very well with Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana at the top of the order. They used part time spinners along with Murali and Vaas to contain the opponents. South Africa won all their group games with their openers Hudson and Kirsten scoring big tons. However in the quarterfinal they ran into a red hot Brian Lara and started picking up the tag “chokers”. Australia had beaten India but lost to West Indies and scraped through to the quarterfinals. Sri Lanka had an easy path while England, Pakistan and New Zealand also made it to the quarters.

This was the first World Cup that I saw live in my life. And it had a lot of memories, some good, some not so good:

1. Sachin Tendulkar: The most poignant memories of this world cup have to be the batting of the little master. He exhibited batsmanship of the highest class only surpassed by his own 2003 heroics. I remember every single innings he played in that world cup. Beginning with 127 not out against Kenya, he hit a superb 70 against West Indies, then the 90 in vain against the Aussies, the rampaging 137 against Sri Lanka before failing against Zimbabwe and Pakistan. In the semifinals he had scored 65 out of 90 when he got out at 90/2. India slid to 120/8. It would be one of his painful knocks. The sheer class of his batting was unmatched even by the blitzkrieg of Sanath Jayasuriya.

2. India vs Pakistan Quarterfinals: This has to be one of the best games of the World Cup ever. The pendulum swung to and fro as Navjyot Sidhu laid a good platform for a scything attack launched by Ajay Jadeja on Waqar Younis. And then the Aamir Sohail vs Venkatesh Prasad incident. Prasad was fired up by that and he picked up crucial wickets even as Javed Miandad came out of retirement to play that game. Nothing could save the game as Srinath and Kumble sewed up the match.

3. Sri Lanka’s performance: Sri Lanka won the World Cup undefeated. It was a planned campaign with Dav Whatmore and Arjuna Ranatunga calmly laying down novel strategies executed wonderfully well by everyone in the team. The openers’ batting ripped the opposition bowling in a matter of few overs. Aravinda De Silva provided the solidity and the consistency needed to sustain the aggression. Mahanama and Ranatunga could carry the team through to the finish. Vaas and Murali ably led the attack with help from a lot of part time spinners backed up with some superb fielding. Aravinda DeSilva played 2 innings that I would rate as one of the best under pressure- both in the semis and finals.

4. The decline of West Indies cricket: A personal pain for me was to see the beginning of the inexorable decline of once masters of the game. Lara and Hooper and Ambrose and Walsh were the sole reminders of a glorious tradition and heritage in which West Indies had dominated world cricket for close to 2 decades. Sadly it was all coming apart as poor administration and contracts issues plagued the Caribbeans.

It was a World Cup organized well despite doubts and criticisms and won by a team that had the best plans and executed their plans best.

1999 World Cup:

The World Cup came back to its traditional home, this time in a new avatar. England played host to a world cup that saw a refurbished format with the introduction of the Super 6. Bangladesh and Scotland replaced UAE and Holland in the lineup. This was a World Cup that reflected the transitions happening in a lot of teams. India and Australia saw the emergence of new pillars to their team. Ganguly & Dravid for India, Mcgrath, Lee and Gilchrist for Australia. Sri Lanka’s tactics did not work on the seaming conditions in England. Their bowling fell apart as India piled on 375 runs against them. DeSilva had a miserable World Cup and that had a telling impact. South Africa had a solid batting lineup with Kirsten and Kallis as well as a strong bowling line up with Donald, Pollock and Ntini. Lance Klusener was emerging as the game’s foremost all-rounder. Sachin Tendulkar came from his father’s funeral to score a hundred against Kenya but otherwise had a quiet World Cup. Zimbabwe surprised India and Australia with the help of Neil Johnson and Murray Goodwin. Pakistan was picking up momentum as the tournament progressed. Australia and New Zealand also went through to the Super 6. Steve Waugh rescued Australia against South Africa with his famous statement “You just dropped your World Cup mate” to Herschelle Gibbs after he dropped Waugh. India lost all its Super 6 games. Pakistan steamrolled New Zealand in the semis with Saeed Anwar scoring a ton. And then we know the famous tie between Australia and South Africa. Shane Warne was deservedly the Man of the Match in both semis and finals. The ball that got Gibbs out reminded people of the ball of the century to Mike Gatting all those years ago. Pakistan had the most forgetful finals one can ever have, being bowled out for 132 and Adam Gilchrist cleaning up the match. It was a very good World Cup that had a forgetful ending but signaled the beginning of Aussie dominance.

2003 World Cup:

The rainbow nation of South Africa co-hosted Africa’s first World Cup along with Zimbabwe and Kenya. 14 teams played the tournament as Canada, Namibia and Netherlands joined the 10 test playing nations and Kenya. The World Cup began in scam as Shane Warne was banned for using diuretics. Andy Flower and a couple of other players wore black arm bands to protest against Robert Mugabe’s rule. Teams refused to travel to Zimbabwe and Kenya. In terms of cricket as well, it was eventful and keenly contested. India started out slowly against Netherlands and faced backlash at home with the loss to Aussies. But Tendulkar carried the team on his shoulders with his batting. Ganguly came to the fore as captain and the bowlers stepped up as Nehra bagged 6 for 23 against England. Australia found new match winners in Symonds and Gilchrist. Bevan was his usual self finishing off hopelessly lost games. This world cup was the best that I have seen so far and had some incredible moments:

1. Sachin Tendulkar: Again the master came to the party. His batting in that world cup was on a different plane altogether. I still remember the 6 he hit of Andy Caddick. Shoaib Akhtar was made to look like a club bowler; Wasim and Waqar were left clueless as Sachin single handedly took India to the finals. And then as misfortune would have it, failed in the finals. But still this was stamping of his signature on World Cup batting records.

2. The Bowling: The bowling that we saw in this World Cup was really top class. Shane Bond, Mcgrath , Lee, Andy Bichel, Ashish Nehra, Chaminda Vaas and Daniel Vettori all bowled very good bowling spells throughout the tournament.

3. South Africa’s calculation blunder: Once again rain would deny South Africa a chance to progress. They miscalculate the Duckworth Lewis target and hence tie the game and go out in the group stage.

4. Adam Gilchrist Walks: The first high profile instance of walking we saw in the game. Adam Gilchrist became immediately famous for his sporting gesture of walking in the semifinals when the umpires were unsure of the decision. Debates would continue to rage but a fine gentleman cricketer would live to be happy with that decision.

5. Saurav Ganguly & Indian cricket: Saurav Ganguly’s contribution to Indian cricket is best exemplified by his leadership in taking the team to the finals. He instilled the fighting spirit in the team and he himself lived the spirit. He was prepared to look adversity in the eye and give back aggression. The Indian cricketing mindset changed with the World Cup. India began the process of developing into a world beating team. Ganguly’s strategy of playing 7 batsman with Dravid as keeper paid off on many an occasion. That was to show the path to novel and street smart strategies to playing the game.

6. Ricky Ponting: Ponting led from the front with his batting. His innings of 140 is perhaps the greatest ever in the World Cup for the sheer magnitude of the occasion and the class of his batting. Martin’s class along with Ponting’s assault ensured that the game was over in 50 overs. Not even a Virender Sehwag innings could rescue India and Australia were deserving winners again going through unbeaten.

The world cup was by far the best I have seen till date and it had the 2 best teams of the tournament competing in the finals with the best team winning it. Nobody could’ve scripted it better.

2007 World Cup:

The first World Cup in the Caribbean Islands was also the most forgotten World Cup ever. 16 teams, a dreary schedule, far away venues, over priced tickets, empty stadiums were a sign of things to come.

India and Pakistan lost to Bangladesh and Ireland respectively and were eliminated in the group stages. As it is, it was an unearthly hour for fans in the subcontinent to watch the game. And with their favorite team’s exit after pedestrian performances, the viewership dipped completely. And then came the tragic news of Bob Woolmer’s death. The Pakistan coach was found dead in his hotel room. The cause of his death is yet to be established. Frankly I remember only 2 things from this world cup. One was Adam Gilchrist’s superb innings in the finals after carrying a squash ball in his gloves for good luck. I wonder how he managed to bat with that. And the second thing is that the finals ended in darkness in bizarre conditions. Australia had again won undefeated in the entire tournament. Thankfully the most forgotten World cup was over.

Watch this space for more as I build to a promising World Cup.