Which world cup had most teams with equal chance of winning and most evenly contested?

[Harsh Thakor]

The Cricket world cup is one of sports spectacles and given more enthralling moments or twists and turns than a Hollywood epic .It had some of the most inconceivable upsets or equivalents of a total change of plot.Some editions hardly had clear favourites and had several teams with equal chances.Here I am listing in order of merit the world cups which were most evenly contested .


1.1987

Hardly anything separating England,India,Pakistan and West Indies with Australia only marginally behind.England had the best recent record winning 3 ODI tourneys in Australia and Sharjah and beating Pak in an ODI series.Thus beaten Australia,West Indies,India and Pakistan in the previous 9 months.India and Pakistan were simply powerhouses of batting talent with abundance of all-rounders.Although marginally depleted West Indies still had their lethal pace attack and abundance of batting talent.Australia although inexperienced posessed budding talent which would flower.
Thus on world cup record West Indies,recent form England and cricketing talent India and Pakistan with Australia more than just dark horses.
The tournament itself showed how close the sides were with favourites India and Pakistan being upset by England and Australia and West Indies going down by just a whisker against Pakistan and England in the 1st stage of the league.In the final England were upset by Australia which speaks for itself.Ironic that the Kiwis gave Australia a strong run for their money in a league match.

2.1975

At 2nd place to me would be the 1975 world cup.Here West Indies,England,Australia and Pakistan virtually had an even chance .The margin of the final,semi-final between England and Australia and league match between Pakistan and West Indies prove this.With a bit more luck England or Pakistan or even Australia could have won it.


3.1992

At 3rd place would be 1992 with South Africa,England,Pakistan,India and Australia close.However on form Australia had a distinct edge while India hardly played to its true potential.Pakistan pulled of a Houdini act from the depths of despair and ressurected themselves from the grave to beat the Kiwis and then England in the final.England was the most organized or balanced while the Proteas were the most talented but sadly unlucky .In the tournament Australia totally disappointed but any of the the last 4 teams qualifying for the semis could have won the final.


4.1979

At 4th place I would put 1979.Although West Indies showed overwhelming superiority they were given a strong run for the money by Pakistan in the semi-final who looked favourites tow in at one stage.The semi-final between England and New Zealand was a cliff -hanger while in the league stage England beat Pakistan by a mere 14 runs.

Edited March 26, 2019 by Harsh Thakor

[Norman]

The only world cups I followed are 2007 ,11 and 15. So don't really know about the contenders for the previous ones. 

I think 2011 had many teams who were favourites. India obviously with the home advantage but a poor bowling attack didn't allow us to have the out right favourites tag. Pakistan and Sri Lanka were pretty strong for Asian conditions. Moreover Australia, South Africa and New Zealand were playing top class odi cricket back then. So all in all , six favourites.