Cricket World Cup History: 3 oldest players to have played in the World Cup 

It is the dream of every cricketer to play in the mega-event of world cricket, the ICC Cricket World Cup. This tournament features players from all the top cricketing nations of the world and because there is no age limit in this World Cup, we see the young and old players play together in the World Cup.

While some players have been lucky enough to play the tournament in their teen age, some have had to wait for years and years to make it to the World Cup. There have also been multiple players who started their World Cup career at a young age and then ended it after etching their names in the history books.

Today, we will have a look at the 3 oldest players to have played in the Cricket World Cup.

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#3 Khurram Khan - 43 Years and 262 Days

Khurram Khan represented the United Arab Emirates in the 2015 World Cup

United Arab Emirates' all-rounder Khurram Khan is the oldest player to score a century in the ODI format. He is also the third oldest player to have played in the Cricket World Cup. Making his World Cup debut at the age of 43, Khan represented U.A.E in all of their 6 group matches. Khan had made his ODI debut against India in the year 2004.

It took him 11 years to record his first ODI hundred but he achieved this feat at the age of 43 against Afghanistan in 2015. Though his birth took place in Pakistan, he served U.A.E for more than a decade in the cricket field. Khan played his last match aged 43 years and 262 days against West Indies.

He could score only 5 runs in his final World Cup match, which was also his last ODI appearance.

#2 John Traicos - 44 Years and 306 Days

John Traicos was born in the year 1947!

John Traicos kicked off his cricket career as a member of the South African team. Traicos made his international debut for South Africa in the year 1970. The off-spinner is amongst the very few number of players who have played international cricket for two nations. An interesting fact to note is that John was born in Egypt but he played international cricket for South Africa and Zimbabwe.

South Africa received a ban from international cricket after Traicos made 3 appearances for the Rainbow Nation. He then represented the Zimbabwe. He made his ODI debut in the 1983 World Cup match against Australia. However, the offie created a new record when he donned the Zimbabwean jersey at the age of 44 and 306 days in the 1992 World Cup.

Traicos continued playing cricket for Zimbabwe after the World Cup as well before finally calling it a day in the year 1993.

#1 Nolan Clarke - 47 Years and 257 Days

Nolan Clarke (2nd from right) is the oldest man to play in the Cricket World Cup

Nolan Clarke, the Dutch leg-spinner played 5 ODI matches for the Netherlands in the 1996 World Cup. He made his debut against South Africa on 17th February, 1996 and then played his final match versus New Zealand on 5th March, 1996. This was the first time that Holland was playing in the Cricket World Cup and the Dutch nation by fielding the Barbados-born player, Nolan Clarke.

Clarke made his World Cup debut at the age of 47. He broke the record of John Tracois of being the oldest player to play in the Cricket World Cup. Clarke was also a big-hitter. He aggregated 50 runs in the 5 World Cup games he played. Nolan even played in the Hong Kong Super Sixes tournament, where he emerged as the batsman with the most sixes in the tournament.