Cricket has seen many a great sportsmen from across the globe that have taken the world by storm, winning Test matches, one days and even Twenty20 internationals for their country. But the exit of India, South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies have made some of the cricketers jinx for their side, the presence of whom has resulted in no wins in the World Cup finals. These world class cricketers are ‘losers’ when it comes to World Cups, be it the 50-over event or the Twenty over one.
In order to let the list be close to the current scenario, I have only selected players who have played cricket in the current millennium, otherwise many would have objected to the compilation. So here’s to those cricketers who failed to ‘rule the world’.
Waqar Younis: At number 5 we have the current Pakistani coach, the former captain and the Vehari Express, as he was commonly known as. Waqar was part of the 1992 World Cup winning squad but got injured ahead of the tournament and had to be sent back. He was part of the mega event four years later but was thrashed by Ajay Jadeja so heavily in the quarter final at Bangalore than not only the bowler but the whole team felt it’s after effects during the chase. In 1999, he couldn’t find a place in the final XI due to the emergence of Shoaib Akhtar but managed to play a couple of games, before his side faltered in the final against the eventual champions Australia at Lord’s. He was the skipper of his side in the 2003 World Cup where Pakistan failed miserably and crashed out of the event even before the second round.
Daniel Vettori: Some term him as the best Kiwi spinner ever while other hails him as the rightful successor to Stephen Fleming. But like his predecessor, Daniel Vettori continues to lose crunch matches and fail to win the World Cup! He is at number 4 on our list and was part of the side that lost the semi final of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup to Pakistan. Despite beating the men in green in the ongoing tournament, they lost a place in the semis to Pakistan on net run rate.
Jacques Kallis: He may be the greatest all rounder’s in modern cricket with more than 10,000 runs in tests and ODIs and over 250 wickets in both forms as well, yet a World Cup title eludes Jacques Kallis, present on number 3 in our list. In 4 World Cup appearances, he has scored 923 runs at 51.27 and taken 16 wickets, and was part of the side that tied the famous 1999 Semi final to the Aussie who went onto win the tournament, and haven’t dropped the cup since.
Brian Lara: With over 10,000 runs in both forms of the game, Brian Lara has his status confirmed as a legend, yet he cherished a World Cup title till the day he quit. He twice managed to score the most runs in a Test innings, became the first batsman to score a quadruple hundred and terrorized bowlers all over the world, yet he was never able to lift the trophy. Coming at umber 2 on our list, Lara represented West Indies in five world cup tournaments from 1992 to 2007, scoring 1225 runs at 42.24 with 2 centuries. He came close to playing the final in 1996 but the senseless shot selection of another World Cup loser Courtney Walsh and the inability to rotate the strike by skipper Richie Richardson, the team from the Caribbean lost to eventual runners-up, the Australians.
Sachin Tendulkar: He may be the greatest batsmen in the universe, yet there are some things even he desires, like a World Cup for instance. No one would agree to his standing at number 1 of our list. For a cricketer who has the world record for most runs in Tests and ODIs, most number of centuries in either form of the game as well as the highest score in a one day innings, his only dream is to win a world cup for India, even though he has appeared in five tournaments, starting from 1992 to 2007. No other batsman in the history of the mega event has scored more than Sachin’s record 1796 runs at 57.93 with 4 centuries and 13 half-centuries. He scored 673 runs in the 2003 World Cup played in South Africa which is still a record for a single world cup tournament. He took his side to the final of the event, which was his first World Cup final as well, but Ricky Ponting’s majestic century steered the Aussies to a win, and India came home with the runners-up trophy.
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