Cricket World Cups: a peep into the past

People say, even experts predict that the 50-over format of the game, or the one-day internationals, will soon be a thing of the past. Even as the cricket world anticipates the Ashes, the prospect of the 10^th World Cup, which is just three months away, has already had cricket fans crave for a ‘real’ cricketing war, not some Indian Premier Leagues and Twenty20 World Cups. Waiting for February to arrive soon, they have already planned their itinerary to watch their favourite teams take centre-stage at their favourite stadiums. The first phase of tickets of the India-England match to be played at the magnificent Eden Gardens is already sold out.

Eden Gardens being renovated for the World Cup

This is the third time that the World Cup is happening in the Indian subcontinent. The previous World Cups here, the Reliance World Cup in 1987 and the Wills World Cup in 1996, have seen Australia and Sri Lanka claiming the title. In fact, it was Sri Lanka who last won a cricket World Cup before the Australian dominance that has seen the island nation win it three times in a row, in England (1999), South Africa (2003) and West Indies (2007).

The first event took place way back in 1975, in which eight nations took part. At the time, England, Australia and the West Indies were bullies over the Asian nations of India and Pakistan. South Africa was a notable cricketing nation too, but it was not until 1992 that the country was allowed to take part in international cricket, because of their racial policy of apartheid. West Indies, led by a spectacled Clive Lloyd won this inaugural tournament, the Prudential World Cup, defeating Australia by 17 runs in a memorable final. In one of the semi-finals, Garry Gilmour took 6 wickets for Australia to bowl England, one of the strongest sides in the competition, out for 93. 60 overs were allotted to a side for an innings, which remained until 1987.

England hosted the second World Cup in 1979, and Clive Lloyd’s side won the trophy yet again, this time defeating England in the finals. India, led by spinner Srinivas Venkataraghavan, lost all its matches, failing to win even against Sri Lanka, considered minnows at the time.

Only four years later they were to make history. Led by a young Kapil Dev, the Indian team defeated West Indies, invincible at the time, in the finals by 43 runs to lift the Prudential World Cup trophy. The Indian captain instilled a fearless attitude in the team, catalysed by his own style of play. He made 175 runs against Zimbabwe in a group stage match off 138 deliveries to lead his side to a memorable win when they were staggering at 17/5 at a stage. In the finals, India could not muster much against the deadliest bowling attack and only managed 183. West Indies were surprisingly bowled out for 140, with Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath claiming three wickets each. The image of Kapil Dev lifting the trophy warms the hearts of Indians even today.

The 1987 Reliance World Cup was hosted jointly by India and Pakistan, and overs were reduced to 50-a side due to early sunset in this part of the world. It saw the closest final in any World Cup, when Allan Border’s Australia defeated England by 12 runs at Eden Gardens in Calcutta. India lost to England in the semi finals, losing track when in a winning position at Wankhede, Bombay (now Mumbai). The World Cup win was a memorable moment for Australia amidst dark periods in Australian cricket.

Imran Khan's moment of glory in 1992

The next edition, the Benson & Hedges World Cup, was held in 1992, hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Coloured clothing replaced white clothing; white balls and day-night matches were introduced. Cricket looked spicier and better. It was played in a round-robin format – every participating team had to play every other team taking part in the tournament. New Zealand dominated right from the start, topping the charts with seven wins and a loss in the eight matches played. South Africa took part for the first time, and played well, qualifying for the semi-finals. Australia, one of the hosts, narrowly lost out on a semi-final berth to Pakistan, who had the same number of points, but a better net run rate, and who went on to claim the trophy, defeating England in the finals at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It was Imran Khan’s final farewell to the game, at the age of 39.

India were defeated by one run by Australia at Brisbane, then the closest match ever to happen in a World Cup, until 1999.

The World Cup came back to the Indian subcontinent in 1996, during the Wills World Cup. Sri Lanka also co-hosted the tournament this time. However, due to security concerns, the Australian and the West Indian cricket teams refused to send their teams to the country even after assurances by the International Cricket Council (ICC). As such, Sri Lanka were awarded two matches default. Led by Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka were a very strong side and their unit revolutionised one-day cricket. Always intent on fielding first and always successfully chasing down any target, the Lankans deserved to win the tournament. In the only match in which they did not field first, against Kenya, they set a world record for having scored the highest in a one-day innings – 398, which was to be broken by Australia and then South Africa a decade later. Aravinda de Silva, Sanath Jayasuriya, Gurusinha, Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan were al match-winners on their day.

Sri Lanka defeated Australia in the final at Lahore by 7 wickets.

greatest one-dayer, a heart-break for South Africa – Allan Donald is run out and the match ends in a tie

The 1999 World Cup was hosted by England. Australia went on to win the tournament after a bad start to their campaign. They were the last team to enter the super six stage, but qualified for the semi-finals after good results in the super six matches. South Africa, led by Hansie Cronje, seemed favourites to lift their maiden title, but a shattering tie in the semi-finals allowed Australia to progress through a better net run rate.

It is popular among cricket fans as the greatest one-dayer ever.

Australia defended their title handsomely in the next edition in 2003, the first time in the continent of Africa. India overcame a demoralising start through a loss to Australia to win all their subsequent games to progress to the finals. It was a one-sided final with Australia defeating India by 125 runs. Hosts South Africa, one of the favourites to claim the trophy, could not go beyond the group stages due to mistake in mathematical calculations. Needing to win against Sri Lanka in the final group stage match, they fell one run short, all the while assuming that they had scored the adequate amount of runs to win through the D/L method, when the table that they had followed had that as the number of runs needed to tie, and not win. In fact, the Proteas could have taken a single to finish the game, but decided not to take the risk. It was a fatal tie yet again.

Sourav Ganguly’s side’s fantastic run in the tournament did not go unnoticed. India was taken over by cricket frenzy and all India’s cricketing stars were garlanded and hero worshipped in all parts of the country.

Ricky Ponting’s Australia defended their title yet again in West Indies, where the World Cup was held next in 2007. India and Pakistan failed to qualify to the second round, losing to Bangladesh and Ireland respectively. Sri Lanka, led by Mahela Jayawardene, were a confident group who hoped to upset Australia in the finals, but that was not to be.

Bob Woolmer’s death marred the World Cup, the only one held in the American continent.

Attention shifts to the Indian subcontinent yet again. This time Bangladesh will also play co-hosts alongside India and Sri Lanka (Pakistan omitted by the ICC due to security concerns). With Australia looking at its weakest in a while, the Australian dominance of the World Cup might finally come to an end. Lets wait for 97 days.