In this weekend’s blog, I am writing about cricket.
The One Day International (ODI) World Cup is an important milestone in a cricketer’s career. Every player aspires to win World Cup for his/her nation. However, since cricket is a team event, this dream might sometimes not materialize. This is notwithstanding the individual brilliance that the player exudes. Even players like Sachin Tendulkar had to play six World Cup tournaments to win the cup. So far we have witnessed twelve World Cup tournaments, and in this blog, I will write about the all-time best XI of players who never won a World Cup:
Openers- Graeme Smith & Saurav Ganguly (Captain)
Although he was more influential in the five-day format, Smith was not far behind in ODIs. In just 197 games, he scored 6989 runs at a strike rate of 80, and he was one of the legends of South Africa.
While the former Indian captain Ganguly played in three World Cups (1999, 2003, and 2007), he missed the successful edition of 2011. He led India in the finals of 2003, and he also scored three centuries in the 2003 edition. Having scored more than 10,000 runs, it is unfortunate that Ganguly is part of the list of players who never won the World Cup.
Middle-Order- Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara (WK), Mohd Azharuddin and AB de Villiers
Dravid was a player who defined the art of pacing an ODI inning, he scored over 10,000 ODI runs despite being branded as a Test batsman. He played India in four World Cups, and also captained the Indian team in 2007.
Sangakkara-even four consecutive tons in the 2015 World Cup did not help him to achieve the dream of winning the World Cup. He was the losing captain in the final of the 2011 World Cup, and part of the team that lost to Australia in the 2015 finals of the 2007 edition.
Mohd Azharuddin captained the Indian team in 1992, 1996, and 1999 World Cup tournaments. In a career that lasted, he delivered many match-winning performances. He scored 9,378 ODI runs in 334 matches, and if not for fixing controversy he could have achieved more for the country.
AB de Villiers had a strike rate of 101, an average of 53, and a world record of making a century in 31 balls, and yet he could not lift the trophy, he will always remain a legend.
All Rounders- Jacques Kallis & Shahid Afridi
Kallis was one of the few all-rounders to have scored 10,000 runs and taken 250 wickets in ODIs. A star performer who could not win a World Cup. He was part of the golden generation of South Africa.
Afridi, with 395 wickets, is the only player second to Muralitharan in the highest wicket-taker spinners in the ODI format. This is on top of 8064 runs. He came closest to winning the World Cup in 1999 when his team Pakistan lost to Australia in the final.
Bowlers- Daniel Vettori, Shaun Pollock & Waqar Younis
Vettori was the captain of New Zealand in the 2011 edition. He somehow goes under the radar when it comes to top-performers in ODIs. The left-arm spinner has 305 wickets apart from scoring more than 2000 runs as a tail-ender.
Pollock was a prolific wicket-taker, he is the fourth-highest taking pacer, with 393 wickets in 303 games. Like his fellow countrymen, he also could not win the World Cup.
Younis was nicknamed ‘The Burewala Express’, no player has more five wickets haul (13) than him in the ODI format. However, when Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992, the pacer was nursing an injury and could not be part of the team. Although he helped his nation to reach the final in 1999, where they lost to Australia.
So friends, don’t you think this is one of the best ODI teams. This team could have given a tough time to the team consisting of World Cup winning players.
Waiting for your reply on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
8th July 2022