Most enjoyable world cup

[Lurker]

Re: Most enjoyable world cup For me the most watchable WC was 1987. I was too much of a young puppy when 1983 happened though I do remember the fireworks after semi and finals win. India went in 1987 WC as reigning champions of the world ( ) and frankly what could possibly be a bigger high?? The joys of 1987 WC started well before the actual games started. It was a testament of move of cricket powers when WC moved from Lords to subcontinent. No more Sunil Gavaskar getting stopped at MCC club anymore :wtg: The very first game between India-Australia was a cracker with India losing by 1 runs, thanks partly to a Dean Jones 4 that was given 6. Next stop was against NZ when Kapil scored another of his exhilirating innings(72 off 58 deliveries). In next game Zimbabwe were beaten soundly followed by a sweet revenge of win against Aussies. After than India stream rolled NZ with Sunny Gavaskar scoring his maiden century, that too in 80 odd balls! This from a man who scred 36* in a 60 over game. This was also the game in which Chetan Sharma took hat-trick. India went in semis as firm favorites as did Pakistan. In a sign of things to come West Indies failed to reach semis. In the semi finals Gooch pulled out a top century and frankly put India out of the game. He kept sweeping Indian spinners, specially Maninder, and till date I have not understood why Kapil did not put extra fielder to stop the bleeding. India would still have won the game with Kapil firing a good sold quickfire innings but he got too carried away and holed out to Gatting. In the other semis Pakistan were beaten by Australia. Australia would end up beating England and bring a turnaround in world cricket for good. Many things stand out about that cup for me -- An all time great innings played by David Haughton of Zimbabwe where he almost beat NZ single handedly. Martin Crowe(and I can still recall the fantastic effort) ran backwards and took a brilliant catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Haughton. -- The reverse sweep by Mike Gatting in finals off Border that cost England the cup. -- The great sportman spirit of Courtney Walsh that would cost Windies the WC spot(he didnt dismiss Abdul Qadir the runner up who was backing up too far). The state of World cricket in many ways can be traced back almost 20 years to date to the Reliance 1987 WC. xxx

[Sooda]

Re: Most enjoyable world cup Guess which i voted for... :hmph:

[beetle]

Re: Most enjoyable world cup 2003...we reached the final and i was slimmer...

[Lurker]

Re: Most enjoyable world cup

2003...we reached the final and i was slimmer...

Yes and No. yes cos India did reach finals..no because the last time you were slim was way back in 1996 (runs and hides unde the sofa)

[beetle]

Re: Most enjoyable world cup :stone:

[MundaPakistani]

Re: Most enjoyable world cup

My favourite, amongst the ones that I've watched, has to be the '99 world cup. Low scoring games, quality bowling attacks(even England with an incredible Mullally was potent), awesome fielding and some absolute thrillers. Had it not been for that heart breaking 2 run defeat to Zim,we would have been in the semis. Pakistan were awesome in that world cup. Wasim was inspirational, Shoaib was fiery, Razzaq actually performed like an all rounder and Moin's late order hitting was a sight to watch(still remember that sweep off Donald). RSA's batting depth, with Zulu coming in at number 8, was unmatched. And their bowling: Donald,Pollock.Elworthy,Zulu and Kallis! Australia showed incredible resilience to reach the finals, after they were looking at an early exit following successive losses to Pak and NZ. Zimbos had probably their best team in history, with NJ opening the bowling and batting. Flower brothers, Strang, Streak, Campbell. And the matches. Ind-Zim, Pak-Aus, Aus-RSA(super 6s and semis!), Pak-RSA, RSA-Zim to name a few. :wtg:

Agree, that PAK AUS match was the last time AUS lost in the world cup :tired:

..that too by 10 runs

That game was like 2 heavyweights boxers fighting without gloves!

[karina]

Re: Most enjoyable world cup

2003...we reached the final and i was slimmer...

:lmao: :lmao: Me too 2 both! Seriously, that was one helluva WC for us. Wonder if we'll ever see India reach the finals again? :eew:

[beetle]

Re: Most enjoyable world cup I had even asked an astrologer who had ssured me...world cup India kee jholi mein hai munia...... :hic: Is baar to mauka hi nahi mila buddhu banneka.... :lmao: :lmao:

[CC1981]

Re: Most enjoyable world cup Its gotto be 1996. Didnt watch world cups before 1992..when i was 10 years old. I vaguely remember that world cup but i was mostly disappointed because the 'heroes' of those days - Kapil,Botham, etc. failed to deliver, Viv was not even included and it seemed like upstarts and one old dawg ( Crowe) had stolen the show. 1999 was too 'test-ish' in its feel though it had a few good matches here and there. Was very disappointed with the finals since i expected Pakistan to win, given how red-hot they were in form and on paper. Aussies wernt having a lot of fun that world cup but it was their hardest world cup win after 87 IMO and down to Tugga's resilience. 2003 was a bit too batting heavy and this one was a total disaster in many ways than one. But 1996 stands out to my memory, despite our horrific collapse and scenes of anarchy from the stadium in the semis. Tendy had a monster cup and the way he ravaged McGrath was a sight for sore eyes. Jaya & Kalu revolutionised ODI batting that world cup- sure, they started the fashion trend in VB series but by winning the world cup, they proved that it was worthy of emulation. deSilva's stunning knocks in the finals and semis were the best two world cup innings i've ever seen ( followed by Lara's ton against the Saffies in the same world cup).

[Captain of Bhangra]

Re: Most enjoyable world cup 2003, without even hesitating. OK, so the ending wasn't quite enjoyable, but hell, that was some ride. Pure Drama. I have quite a few Indian cricket DVDs, but the best one by far is one I picked up in Chandigarh, which has highlights of all of India's matches. It had everything, first meeting against the enemy in 3 years, and we caned them. Ashish Nehra destroying the English with his 6fer, the Sri Lankan massacre at the hands of Srinath and Khan, an edgy match v New Zealand and more... Obviously most would say 1983, but as the final was a week before my 2nd birthday, I don't remember much about it... 2007 was the sh!ttest World Cup ever in my opinion...