CRICKET
Top five greatest cricketers who could not win World Cup
Winning a World Cup is not an easy job for a team. Over the years, the tournament has been played in different formats. Since 1975, there have been a lot of changes in the format of the ODI World Cup. From seven teams, the tournament has seen 16 teams (2007). Talking about some teams, they have failed to win the tournament at least once. In this listicle, we will discuss five players who never won a World Cup.
Top five greatest players who never won World Cups in their careers
- Waqar Younis
The former Pakistan pacer played three World Cups (could have played four had he not been ruled out of the 1992 campaign). From 1996 to 2003, the team’s best performance was to reach the final in 1999 but lost to Australia. Talking about his ODI career, the 52-year-old played 262 games and has 416 wickets, one of the highest wicket-takers in ODI cricket.
2. Jacques Kallis
One of the greatest all-rounders of the game, Kallis has played five World Cups in 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011. He was also part of the 1999 heartbreak in the semis in which the game ended in a tie and Australia advanced to the final. Four years later, the Proteas made the infamous DLS blunder which is why they missed out on semis qualification. Despite having 11579 runs in 328 games, Kallis couldn’t win the title.
3. Kumar Sangakkara
The former Sri Lanka skipper played four World Cups in 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015. Talking about the teams in these World Cups, they lost the semis in 03′ and played the final in 07′ and 11′. Sangakkara played 404 ODIs and amassed 14234 runs and kept wickets for most of his career. He can be considered unlucky as the team came close on three occasions.
4. Rahul Dravid
The current India head coach and former skipper played three World Cups in 1999, 2003, and 2007. 24 years back, despite the Men In Blue crashing out in the Super Four round, he was the highest run-getter for the team. In 2003, the team reached the final and only lost games, including the final, both against Australia. In his last World Cup, the team lost to Bangladesh and went home after the first round. Despite being one of the best, he didn’t win the title.
5. Brendon McCullum
The former New Zealand played four World Cups in 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015. In his last World Cup at home, he led the team to their maiden final appearance. Even though the team didn’t win the title, they won hearts. Also, the fans were impressed with his captaincy and resilience. One can only wonder what if he had played 10-15 overs in the 2015 final.