ICC World Cup 2011 History, Teams, Captains, Winners

The 1st ICC World Cup took place in 1975, with 8 teams playing 60 overs per innings. West Indies, led by Clive Lloyd, was the winner. This post deals with such details as number of teams, tournament duration, winners, formats, major changes introduced, and highlights concerning the ICC World Cup from 1975 to 2011. These details were gathered from various web portals on the internet.

1975 World Cup

ICCWindies

No. of teams: 8
Winner: West Indies
Tournament duration: 15 days
Overs per inning: 60
Highest score: 334/4 by England against India in Group A
Lowest team score: 86 by Sri Lanka against West Indies in Group B
Unforgettable moment: Dennis Amiss making the first ever World Cup century when he scored 137 off just 147 balls. Another unforgettable moment was Sunil Gavaskar scoring 36 off 174 balls while batting out the 60 overs

1979 World Cup

Winner: West Indies
No. of teams: 8
Tournament duration: 15 days
Overs per inning: 60
Highest score: 286/9 by West Indies against England in the final
Lowest team score: 45 by Canada against England in Group A
Unforgettable moment: A great knock of 138 by Vivian Richards in the final at Lord’s

1983 World Cup

ICCIndia

Winner: India
No. of teams: 8
Tournament duration: 17 days
Overs per inning: 60
Field restrictions: 30-yard circle introduced in cricket for the first time. Minimum of 4 fielders inside it throughout the innings
Highest score: 338/5 by Pakistan against Sri Lanka in Group A
Lowest team score: 136 by Sri Lanka against England in Group A
Unforgettable moment: India beating the tournament favourite West Indies in a dramatic final at Lord’s

1987 World Cup

Winner: Australia
No. of teams: 8
Tournament duration: 31 days
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: Yes. 30-yard circle
Biggest change in format: Reduction in number of overs from 60 to 50 plus introduction of neutral umpire concept
Highest score: 360/4 by West Indies against Sri Lanka in Group B
Lowest team score: 135 by Zimbabwe against India in Group A
Unforgettable moment: First hat-trick in World Cup history. The honours went to Chetan Sharma of India who removed Kiwi batsmen Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Chatfield in successive balls

1992 World Cup

ICCPaki1992

Winner: Pakistan
No. of teams: 9
Tournament duration: 32 days
Format: Round robin. All teams played each other once and top four went through to the semi finals
Clothing: Coloured clothing and white balls
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: Only 2 fielders allowed outside 30-yard circle in the first 15 overs
Biggest change in format: Day-night matches. Coloured clothing and white balls
Highest score: 313/7 by Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe
Lowest team score: 74 by Pakistan against England
Unforgettable moment: South Africa rejoining mainstream cricket after the end of apartheid

1996 World Cup

ICCSriLanka96

Winner: Sri Lanka
No. of teams: 12
Tournament duration: 33 days
Format: Two groups and top four in each group through to quarterfinals
Clothing: Coloured clothing
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: 30-yard circle in the first 15 overs. Only 2 fielders allowed outside of it
Biggest change in format: Quarterfinal stage introduced for the first time
Highest score: 398/5 by Sri Lanka against Kenya in Group A
Lowest team score: 93 by West Indies against Kenya in Group A
Unforgettable moment: Sri Lanka scoring over 100 runs in the first 15 overs in 3 matches enroute to winning their first World Cup plus Aravinda de Silva’s back-to-back Man-of-the-match awards in the semi final and final. Add to this Kenya shocking West Indies at Poona after bundling out the Caribbean giants for the tournament’s lowest total

1999 World Cup

ICC1999

Winner: Australia
No. of teams: 12
Tournament duration: 38 days
Format: 2 groups and top 3 from each group progressed to Super Six. the top 4 from Super Six made it to semi finals
Clothing: Coloured clothing
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: 30-yard circle
Biggest single change in format: Introduction of Super Six
Highest score: 373/6 by India against Sri Lanka in Group A
Lowest team score: 68 by Scotland against West Indies in Group B
Unforgettable moment: Tied semi final match between Australia and South Africa, which allowed the Aussies to go through on better net run rate

2003 World Cup

Winner: Australia
No. of teams: 14
Tournament duration: 43 days
Format: 2 groups and top 3 from each group progressed to Super Six. the top 4 from Super Six made it to semi finals
Clothing: coloured clothing
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: 30-yard circle for the first 15 overs
Biggest single change in format: Nothing notable
Highest score: 359/2 by Australia against India in the final
Lowest team score: 36 by Canada against Sri Lanka in Pool B
Unforgettable moment: First time cricket world cup event went to the African continent. Ricky Ponting’s phenomenal 146 off just 121 balls in the final

2007 World Cup

ICCAussies

Winner: Australia
No. of teams: 16
Tournament duration: 47 days
Format: 4 groups of 4 teams each. Top two from each group progress to super 8. The top 4 in Super eight progressed to semi finals
Clothing: coloured clothing
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: Powerplay introduced for the first time in World Cup cricket
Biggest change in format: Introduction of Super 8 and powerplay
Highest score: 377/6 by Australia against South Africa in Group A
Lowest team score: 77 by Ireland against Sri Lanka in Super Eight stage
Unforgettable moment: Bangladesh knocking India out in first round and Ireland knocking Pakistan out in the first round. Plus Gilchrist’s unbelievable 149 off just 104 balls simply stands out as the greatest World Cup final inning by an individual

2011 World Cup

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The World Cup is finally over. We have witnessed more than a month of high adrenaline cricket with performances from many stalwarts who were playing their last world cup, seasoned campaigners and also the relatively unknown who had come to make their mark.

I have tried to put up a dream XI based on the performance in the world cup. So here goes the dream team: –

The opening pair would be Sachin Tendulkar and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Sachin has been instrumental throughout the tournament scoring runs with controlled aggression. He has been there for the team on most of the occasions. At 37, he has shown the world why he is still the best batsman in the world.

Dilshan would be his ideal partner. An aggressive player from the word go, he has the ability to tear apart any opposition. He is also a handy off spin bowler and good fielder.

Magnificent in all Departments

Players to miss out – Upul Tharanga, Virender Sehwag

The middle order would be Kumar Sangakkara, Ross Taylor, Yuvraj Singh, AB De Villiers and MS Dhoni.

Sangakkara has been in ominous form throughout the tournament and has the ability to play the shots as well. He will be the wicketkeeper as well.

Ross Taylor’s 131* against Pakistan was a top class knock and he was the lynchpin of New Zealand batting this time around. A dangerous customer if he spends some time at the crease.

Yuvraj Singh has contributed with the bat, the ball and on the field. Has regained his smooth touch this world cup and has been a revelation as a bowler picking up wickets whenever brought on to bowl. Also he is back to favorite cover position where he has been stunning.

The selection of De Villiers might seem foolish, but for me he is that extra batsman who can play lower down the order and score quick runs. Many of the other batsmen cannot bat at number 6 where you mostly get very little overs. He is also a very good outfielder.

Dhoni is undoubtedly my captain for his calmness. With the bat he can be dangerous at the same time play the waiting game – 91* in the final being his claim for this batting spot.

Players to miss out – Jonathan Trott, Umar Akmal, Gautam Gambhir, Ryan Ten Doeschate, Kieron Pollard

Killer Slinger

The bowling lineup is completed by Afridi as the lone spinner, Zaheer Khan, Lasith Malinga and Umar Gul as the 3 seamers.

Afridi mixed up with bowling well enough to end up as the joint highest wicket taker. His batting if it skills is an immense bonus.

Zaheer Khan has been at his masterful best this world Cup being India’s wicket taker especially in his 2nd and 3rd spells. He is the joint highest wicket taker with Afridi.

Lasith Malinga can take wickets at any time of the day with his toe crushing yorkers. An amazing bowler to have at death. He took his second hat-trick in world cups against Kenya in the group stage.

Umar Gul completes the pace trio. He has been in his peak form of late. With one of the cleanest action around, his bowling at 140kmph + has been Pakistan’s backbone in pace bowling department. He has been accurate and miser at the same time.

Players to miss out – Dale Steyn, Kemar Roach, Tim Southee, Imran Tahir