Worst upsets in cricket history

[Ram]

Of course WI were favorites' date=' no one will dispute that. However it was hardly the biggest upset in history given how we've had Ireland defeating Pakistan and Bangladesh defeating an all time great Australian team.[/quote'] The Ireland-Pakistan upset is no match for the India-WI shocker. That was a bloody league-phase match, this was THE world cup finals for crying out loud. Sure, Pakistan may have been eliminated, but they were a pretty mediocre team anyways. Windies were the THE dominant force of that era, the two time defending champs. And most importantly, if you put the games in historical context, you will realize the Indian victory in WC '83 will probably go down among the most celebrated moments in the history of cricket. I doubt if the Pak-Ireland match will be remembered by anyone but the Irish fans.

[Ram]

Odds in sports circa 1980s hardly means anything more than reputation. Similar odds were actually given to brazil winning the world cup in the early 80s and they failed too. Fact is, India had figured out west indies and the west indians adjusted after their world cup loss.

I did not ask for a diagnosis on the upset. Fact is - No one expected India to win, not even Indians. That win changed the landscape of Indian cricket. From an historical perspective, I dont think you can ask for anything bigger than that.

[Ultimate_Game]

UG, Most certainly I disagree with your opinion. It was a monstrous upset and given that odds on India winning were 66-1, that really tells us something. The Berbice win you quoted was on a flat wicket before a huge Indian population at Guyana. It was the last game of the series. Of course the sides were similar but you cant compare a flat pitch with an English wicket where there is plenty of swing and pace for 4 top fast bowlers. India won the Manchester game v WI, the latter's 1st loss in 3 cups and the winner's first win in 3 cups. That was a flash in the pan as Windies' next matches show: 8w, 11ovs v Pak Viv 80* 10w, 15 ovs Zim 7w, 3 ovs v Aus Viv 95*, Greenidge 90 66 runs v India Viv 119 8w 12ovs Viv 16, Greenidge 105 vs Zim 101 runs vs Aus Compare that with India: 6w 5ovs vs Eng 119 runs vs Aus 17-5 lost by 66; 7 ovs vs WI lost 162; 22 ovs vs Aus So India were improving in leaps and bounds in their last 2 games but still, WI had Viv coming into the game with 294 runs, dismissed once. India had picked up the habit of bowling middle overs nice and tight, and that was the sole factor for the final win. But even then, with Windies going strong at 50-1 in the 13th over(chasing 183), few would have expected them to crash from there. Berbice was not an indication of India doing better in the WC. If that were so, Lords should have been an indication of India running Windies close. 6 months later, WI came to India and rolled us out 3-0 in tests, 5-0 in ODIs which confirms that Berbice and Lords were both outliers.

My point was pretty simple. If Team A has beaten Team B 2 out of 3 times in their last 3 games, Team A beating Team B once again for the 3rd time in 4 attempts can't be termed as a great shock or upset. An upset is more of out of a blue sort of thing but in this case it simply wasn't as India had also beaten WI in the league match. Sure, WI were favorites to win the match but India coming out on top can't be one of the biggest upsets. Bigger upsets for me were Kenya beating WI in 96 or B'desh getting the better of Pak in 99, or even Zim beating SA in 99 WC.

[Executioner]

The Ireland-Pakistan upset is no match for the India-WI shocker. That was a bloody league-phase match, this was THE world cup finals for crying out loud. Sure, Pakistan may have been eliminated, but they were a pretty mediocre team anyways. Windies were the THE dominant force of that era, the two time defending champs. And most importantly, if you put the games in historical context, you will realize the Indian victory in WC '83 will probably go down among the most celebrated moments in the history of cricket. I doubt if the Pak-Ireland match will be remembered by anyone but the Irish fans.

An upset doesnt really depensd on a league match, a final or not. India winning the world cup was a suprise, but not beating WI. India had beaten WI plenty of times before that match, and if they could beat all other teams to get to the Final, winning the final was not really that shocking/upsetting

[Ram]

An upset doesnt really depensd on a league match' date= a final or not. India winning the world cup was a suprise, but not beating WI. India had beaten WI plenty of times before that match, and if they could beat all other teams to get to the Final, winning the final was not really that shocking/upsetting

Of course it makes a HUGEEE difference what stage of the tournament it is. For starters, the more deeper in the tournament an upset happens, the more consequential it is. Secondly, sometimes, established teams find it difficult to motivate themselves against minnow opposition in the league phases of a competition. But that is hardly the case when it comes to knock-out phases and big-finals.

[The Outsider]

The Ireland-Pakistan upset is no match for the India-WI shocker. That was a bloody league-phase match, this was THE world cup finals for crying out loud. Sure, Pakistan may have been eliminated, but they were a pretty mediocre team anyways. Windies were the THE dominant force of that era, the two time defending champs. And most importantly, if you put the games in historical context, you will realize the Indian victory in WC '83 will probably go down among the most celebrated moments in the history of cricket. I doubt if the Pak-Ireland match will be remembered by anyone but the Irish fans.

Any team which reaches the finals of a global tournament after playing 6 league matches and a semi final is not p!ss poor like Ireland and Bangladesh were. Yeah, WI were obviously better but India had defeated even them not just in the tournament earlier but also on their home ground a few months back. The disparity between India and West Indies was nowhere like it was between Pakistan and Ireland or Bangladesh and Australia. Yeah, being the final takes out the complacency factor but even Pakistan-Ireland was a knockout match for all purposes.

[I6MTW]

Afghanistan nearly upset us in WT2012

[Sachinism]

Bangladesh beating Pakistan 99 WC. Pakistan were Red Hot that tournament, too big an upset