Cricket World Cup History: 3 unsung heroes in World Cup history 

#2 Andrew Symonds - For Australia in 2003

Andrew Symonds was a crucial part of the Australian setup

For a major part of his career, Andrew Symonds was viewed as a controversial guy with a new story that would pop out each day with him being the central figure. However, only a few remember him as one of the better ODI players for Australia. Making debut in the late 90s, Symonds saw an inconsistent start to his career as he was dropped after a patchy run of scores.

However, his skipper Ricky Ponting invested faith in him by picking Symonds for the World Cup in 2003. This was the turning point in his career as he could live up to the expectations by emerging as the fourth highest run-getter for his team. His innings of 143 against Pakistan in their opening clash at World Cup in 2003, instilled a certain belief in his ability and the reliable depth in their batting order. He scored 326 runs in 5 innings with some invaluable knocks at crucial moments in the tournament.