Harsh Thakor Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 This is my list in order of merit of the sides who have won the cricket world cup.It may have an element of bias but I feel that one day sides have improved over the decades with standards improving.I can't conceive the great West Indian teams equaling the champion Australian teams in achieving mammoth targets.Australia were far more experienced at their best than West Indies.Infact many teams which have not won the world cup have been superior to teams that have won the title with South Africa and England being the best example. 1.Australia-2003-aura of invincibility like no team ever.Beat opponents by huge margins.Superbly blended pace and spin in bowling department and posessed enormous batting depth with the skill of Ponting,Gilchrist,Hayden,Symonds and Bevan.Beat opponents by a mile. 2.Australia-2007-almost a replic aof the 2003 unit with just marginally less flourish.Only Sri Lanka came close to giving the Aussies a sniff of defeat in the final and marginally by the Protaes in the initial stages of the tournament. 3.West Indies-1979-In terms of pure talent the best team ever to win a world cup.Dashing stroke players like Viv Richards,Greenidge,Clive Lloyd,Alvin Kalicharan and great fast bowlers like Robert,Holding and Garner.Lacked all-rounders like Australasia and in 2003 or 07.Australia was ranked ahead as they were more professional. 4.Australia -1999-one of the most balanced teams who superbly blended talent with professional's.Shane Warne and Waugh brothers made a crucial difference. 5.Pakistan-1992-ressurected like cornered tigers.Possessed the most versatile of bowling attacks and flowering batting talent.The leadership and batting of Imran Khan combined with the bowling of Wasim Akram and batting skills of Miandad and Inzamam made Pakistan a deserving champion.It was a triumph of talent and match-winners over team balance and organization which opponents England posessed more than any side playing in the 1992 world cup. 6.India-2011 A balanced team with great all-round strength and competitive attacking instinct.One of the most powerful batting sides ever in world cup cricket.Gambhir,Sehwag,Tendulkar,Dhoni ,Yuvraj and Zaheer made it a champion unit. 7.India-1983 Few teams ever possessed as much batting depth and all-rounders.Imagine Kirmani batting at no 11 and all-rounders like Kapil Dev,Roger Binny or Kirti Azad.Contained class batsman like Gavaskar,Sandeep Patil and Mohinder Amarnath.Never has a world cup winning team posessed as much spirit or won against such odds. 8.Australia-1987-Proved that determination and organization can prevail over flair and talent.One of the most inexperienced Aussie team sto leave the shore but still posessed budding talent.The all-round skills of Steve Waugh ,captaincy of Border and the batting of David Boon was a crucial factor.Few teams posessed such team spirit and methodical approach. 9.1975-West Indies Boosted by great stroke players and crafty bowlers.Clive Lloyd and Kalicharan made the crucial difference plus the bowling of Andy Roberts and Keith Boyce. 10.Sri Lanka-1996-Robust batsmen and bowlers with great attacking killer instinct.The skills and flair of Aravinda de'Silva ,Sannath Jayasuriya and Mulritharan etc.won the cup for the Lankans.
MCGGG Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 From 1999 to 2007 Australia didn't lose a single WC match iirc ( maybe 1 early in 99 but I can't be sure), was over 20 wins in a row anyway, but back to the question, 2003 for me, beast of a team, we got very, very lucky in 99 and 2007 was a farce.
bowl_out Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 In 99, Aus got lucky... They lost to NZ in the league stage, didn't look like they would qualify for the Super Six... almost lost to SA in the semis. 2003-2007 Aus was extremely strong. Not only did they not lose a match in the tournament, they had thumping wins all through, especially the final
Gollum Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 West Indies 1979 looks like a beast team. My ranking WI 1979 Aus 2003 Aus 2007 India 2011 WI 1975 Aus 1999 India 1983 Pak 1992 Lanka 1996 Aus 1987
Gollum Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 The more I look at it Pak 1992 team looks rubbish. If not for rain against Eng they would have been knocked out. 3rd class batting lineup with Imran at no 3 :hysterical::hysterical: and FTBs like Inzamam,Aamir Sohail,Rameez as their star batsmen,Miandad was the only great batsman in that lineup but he was well past his prime. Even Imran almost stopped bowling that time. Bowling unit also rubbish with Akram as a saving grace.
bowl_out Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 ^^ Lanka 96 was like a dream team with that top order during those times before the advent of T20... I still remember being shell shocked when Jaya and Kalu got them to 50/0 in 5 over something... Never seen that kind of hitting until then... I'd surely put them above India 1983 in your list
Sonix768 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 From 1999 to 2007 Australia didn't lose a single WC match iirc ( maybe 1 early in 99 but I can't be sure)' date=' was over 20 wins in a row anyway, but back to the question, 2003 for me, beast of a team, we got very, very lucky in 99 and 2007 was a farce.[/quote'] They have lost to NZ and Pak in the group stage of 1999 WC
Sonix768 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 ^^ Lanka 96 was like a dream team with that top order during those times before the advent of T20... I still remember being shell shocked when Jaya and Kalu got them to 50/0 in 5 over something... Never seen that kind of hitting until then... I thought our 271 was way more than a winning score in the league stage. :(( Poor Manoj Prabhakar :(( And how can anyone forget Jayasuriya's onslaught of poor England bowlers. They scored 236. And SL were 113 in just 13 overs.. lol..
MCGGG Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 They have lost to NZ and Pak in the group stage of 1999 WC Cheers mate, but they didn't lose a single game after that until 2011, granted a lot of cannon fodder was served up.
MCGGG Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 I thought our 271 was way more than a winning score in the league stage. :(( Poor Manoj Prabhakar :(( And how can anyone forget Jayasuriya's onslaught of poor England bowlers. They scored 236. And SL were 113 in just 13 overs.. lol.. Tillikaratna(spelling?) was a beast in Australia for a while, not WC related but damn that dude could hammer.
RedFever Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 I thought our 271 was way more than a winning score in the league stage. :(( Poor Manoj Prabhakar :(( And how can anyone forget Jayasuriya's onslaught of poor England bowlers. They scored 236. And SL were 113 in just 13 overs.. lol.. Jaysuriya ended Prabhakar's career in that match. Poor guy had to try bowling offspin in his second spell. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65179.html
nevada Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 Jaysuriya ended Prabhakar's career in that match. Poor guy had to try bowling offspin in his second spell. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65179.html If only the same standards of shame existed today, pissant would have retired long ago.
Raghav_12 Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 WI team that India defeated in 83 wc was best of all.
The Outsider Posted January 29, 2015 Posted January 29, 2015 WI team that India defeated in 83 wc was best of all. I was about to post that. The best team to have played in a WC actually never won it. Kapil's two catches off Richards and Lloyd!
HippoSucks Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 Australia 2003, West Indies 1979 and then Australia 2007 in that order.
moniker Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 For me, India 2003 were better than India 2011. The only team they lost to were the beastly Australia.
HippoSucks Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 In two months, I shall post here saying "India 2015", boasting the likes of Binny, Dhawan and Rayudu.
bowl_out Posted January 30, 2015 Posted January 30, 2015 Jaysuriya ended Prabhakar's career in that match. Poor guy had to try bowling offspin in his second spell. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65179.html And with the opening batsmen scoring 7 off 36 balls, with a boundary in it as well :haha: Wonder how the fans would react to such a start now
thongale Posted January 31, 2015 Posted January 31, 2015 West Indies 1979 looks like a beast team. My ranking WI 1979 Aus 2003 Aus 2007 India 2011 WI 1975 Aus 1999 India 1983 Pak 1992 Lanka 1996 Aus 1987SL 1996 team will beat India 1983 team hands down. India's WC team was beaten fair and square at home by WC in next visit. But Aus was *****ing in their pants agains us in 97/98 era when they played in SL.
thongale Posted January 31, 2015 Posted January 31, 2015 That SL team of 96 is special. You rarely have teams with no passengers. Their stats looks very mediocre, but for a period of 96-98, 9-10 players of that team was in hot form, some times all 11 even the 12th man with, bat, ball and in the field. Especially in the field, we performed like a dream, and giving Aus and SAF a run for their money. Any team, even WI would have had a mighty difficult time beating them since all of them were in form at same time.
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