CWC History: India's best players in each edition from 1975-2015

#5 1996 - Sachin Tendulkar

The one man who could demolish any bowling attack in the world

With the tournament being held in familiar conditions once again, team India was expected to shake off the lukewarm performances in the previous edition with a strong performance. Until the infamous crowd debacle during the semifinals at the Eden Gardens, India did have a fantastic campaign too.

That both the highest runscorer and the highest wicket-taker hailed from the team even while having played one match less highlights the impact India had in the tournament.

Though Anil Kumble's 15 wickets are worth mentioning, the tournament is more memorable for the consistency with which Sachin Tendulkar carried the team forward through all sorts of troubles, highlighting the team's dependency on the little man's shoulders.

He scored a magnificent aggregate of 523 runs, the highest in the tournament history until he himself bettered it two editions later. Two centuries, three half-centuries, a high score of 137 against the eventual winners, Sri Lanka, a stupendous average of 87 were the highlights of his tournament gold-run.

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#6 1999 - Rahul Dravid

Dravid's punch through square- a sight to behold

In the tournament that cemented the chokers tag on South Africa and started the era of Australian domination, India crashed out of the super six-stages courtesy the bizarre points system and the defeats to Australia and New Zealand.

The surprise package for the tournament was The Wall, whose selection had previously been criticized as he was a classic Test-mold. However, Rahul Dravid silenced his doubters with Sachin-esque numbers, scoring 461 runs at an average of 66 with two centuries, against the same oppositions - Kenya and Sri Lanka, and three half centuries.

More unbelievable was that he scored them at an uncharacteristic strike rate of 85 even when he had struck a lone six in the entire tournament, etching some lessons on the immortality of classic strokeplay.