Best teams to have played the world cup

[Harsh Thakor]

This is my ranking in order of merit of all teams who have contested a world cup.Surprisingly many have never won the title but were superbly balanced and unlucky teams.I feel the standard of the game has improved over decades so a semi-finalist or losing finalist of one edition could be superior to a champion of previous editions of the world cup.To me the best teams have also not always won the world cup like in 1987,1992 and 1999.Pakistan was a better team in 1979,1987 and 1999 than they were in 1992 when they won the title while South Africa was the best side in 1999,when Australia won.I also reversed the positions of West Indies of 1979 compared to South Africa and Pakistan. 1.Australia-2003-An aura of invincibility unequaled.Teams hardly got within the breadth of this unit. 2.Australia-2007-Almost equal to 2003 unit but just marginally below in terms of superiority. 3.West Indies-1979 A team packed with batting and bowling machines like no teams ever.However it lacked a genuine spinner and all-rounder.Posessed the best pace attack of all world cup teams .Imagine the likes of Viv Richards,Clive Lloyd and Alvin Kalicharan combined with the likes of Andy Roberts,Michael Holding and Joel Garner. 4.South Africa-1999-Posessed all-rounders,batting depth and bowling attack like few teams ever in addition to fielding which was better than any team which contested the world cup..At their peak spitted fire and blasted their opponents with the all-round prowess of Lance Kluesener,Jacques Kallis, ,Shaun Pollock and the mercurial bowling of Alan Donald.Imagine Mark Boucher batting at no.10.Unlucky to miss out inspite of being the best team in 1999. 5.Pakistan-1999-In terms of talent the best team of the 1999 world cup if you combine batting and bowling depth.No team posessed such a creative bowing attack with Wasim,Waqar ,Shoaib and Mushtaq .Btasmen like Inzamam and Seaed Anwar were match-winners as well as all-rounders like Abdur Razzaq and Azhar Mehmood.Lost it's peak at acrucial stage otherwise could well have won the title. 6.West Indies-1983-within a whisker of the 1979 team with Viv Richards marginally better in 1979 and Holding and Roberts or even Garner more effective.Malcom Marshall boosted their pace attack after the team made a shoddy start in 1983.However before the final they reached a level of invincibility few teams have ever had.Capitualted to lose the final as though the spirit of the devil posessed them. 7.Australia 1999 well balanced and extremely professional with the likes of Warne and Waugh brothers .Peaked at just the right time displaying great mental resilience. 8.Pakistan-1979 Although beaten in the semi-final in 1979 Pakistan gave the mighty West Indies a strong run for their money.Chasing a target of 293 runs to win at the Oval in the the semi-final against the West Indies the Pakistanis were cruising home when Majid and Zaheer were batting at 176-1 ,with 20 overs left.However they packed in like a bunch of cards yeilding to the pressure.Few teams ever had such astrong batting line up as Pakistan who would have been more deserving finalists than England in 1979 who were thrashed.Remember Pakistan lost by half the margin England did in the final against the same team. 9.Sri Lanka of 2007-Although beaten in final gave arguably the greatest team ever a sniff of defeat.Few Lankan team shave been as balanced in both batting and bowling.Jayewardene,Sangakaara,Murlitharan,Malinga Jayasuriya etc made it a most cohesive unit.I would have backed this team to win world cups of 1975,1987,1992 or 1996. 10.India-2011 One of the most balanced teams to play on the sub-continent with reserves of talent in batting like Tendulkar,Yuvraj,Dhoni,Sehwag ,Raina and Gambhir and bowlers like Zaheer Khan.All-rounders proved crucial. 11.England-.1979 Although not as talented as West Indies or Pakistan posessed great sense of organization and discipline with a string of all-rounders .The captaincy of Brearley,all-round skills of Botham or Miller and the talent of Gower and Gooch made the difference. 12.India-2003 great talent with the likes of Tendulkar,Sehwag,Dravid,Dhoni ,Ganguly etc.A most formidable all-round unit. 13.England-1992 One of the most organized and well-balanced teams to have played in a world cup who lost their form at the end.Man to man the best team of the 1992 world cup . 14.Pakistan-1987 Although beaten in the semi-final posesed batting depth and bowling attack which few teams have ever posessed.Imagine Wasim,Imran and Qadir bowling together and the likes of Miandad,Malik etc comprising their batting.To me the best team of the 1987 cup who were beaten by Australia who were a better team on their day.At their peak they would have won the title. 15.India 1987 Man to man potentially a champion team with the likes of Gavaskar,Shrikanth,Azharruddin,Sidhu,Vengsakar,Rav i Shastri and Kapil Dev.With Pakistan the best side of 1987. 16.Pakistan-1992 Although inexperienced illuminated flashes of brilliance with the ranks of Inzamam and Wasim.Few teams ever posessed such match-winning killer instinct or pure talent to come out of the woods to launch a spectacular triumph. 17.South Africa-1996 Although unlucky losers in the quarter final man to man the best team of the 1996 tournament with better batting depth and all-rounders than any team. 18.India-1983 Blessed with batting depth few teams have ever had and a flourish of all-rounders including the great Kapil Dev.No side posessed such a strong spirit to triumph against all odds. 19.South Africa-1992 With more luck may have won the tournament.Great bowling attack with Donald,Mathews Mcmillan and talented batsmen like Wessells,Kirsten,Hudson etc.Scored some great wins like against Australia. 20-West Indies -1975 Posesesed great strokemakers and capable bowlers.Clive Lloyd and Alvin Kalicharan made the big difference as well as Roy Fredericks.

[G_B_]

has to be the windies from 1975 to 1983 (though they lost the final)

[CoverDrive]

should have had windies 1983 and India 2003 also in the poll

[Sonix768]

1.Australia-2003-An aura of invincibility unequaled.Teams hardly got within the breadth of this unit. 2.Australia-2007-Almost equal to 2003 unit but just marginally below in terms of superiority.

Yes, in both 2003 and 2007 WCs Australia did not lose a single match. But for me 2007 team was THE BEAST team. And I don't know how 2007 team was inferior in terms of superiority to 2003 team. If you are talking about the team compositions BEFORE the cup they yeah I can agree as 2007 team has just lost the tri series to England at home and whitewashed 3-0 in NZ prior to the WC. In 2003 WC, Australia did not always beat opponents by huge margins. Other teams got within a inch distance of beating them many times. It was only India they beat mercilessly both the times. In 2003, Aus batting was shaky most of the times. Its their bowling and Bevan and Symonds who saved their ass more often than not. Against Pakistan, they were 120-5 before Symonds rescued them. Against England, they were 114-7 chasing 210 before Bevan and Bichel rescued them Against NZ, they were 85-7 before Bevan and Bichel rescued them again to a respectable 208. Against SL in semis, they were bowled out for 212. Symonds scored 91. But in 2007, both batting and bowling equally created carnage. These are Australia's batting first scores. 334/6 vs. Scotland 358/5 vs. Netherlands 377/6 vs. South Africa 322/6 vs. WI 348/6 vs. NZ 281/4 (38ov) vs. SL (FINAL) These are their successful chases. 106/0 (13.5ov) vs. Bangladesh 248/3 (47.2ov) vs. England 92/1 (12.2ov) vs. Ireland 232/3 (42.4ov) vs. SL 153/3 (31.3ov) vs. SA (SEMI) I think no team ever produced such a sheer dominant performance in any of the World Cup. Their utter dominance is one of the reason why that 2007 edition was a boring affair.

[Harsh Thakor]

Yes, in both 2003 and 2007 WCs Australia did not lose a single match. But for me 2007 team was THE BEAST team. And I don't know how 2007 team was inferior in terms of superiority to 2003 team. If you are talking about the team compositions BEFORE the cup they yeah I can agree as 2007 team has just lost the tri series to England at home and whitewashed 3-0 in NZ prior to the WC. In 2003 WC, Australia did not always beat opponents by huge margins. Other teams got within a inch distance of beating them many times. It was only India they beat mercilessly both the times. In 2003, Aus batting was shaky most of the times. Its their bowling and Bevan and Symonds who saved their ass more often than not. Against Pakistan, they were 120-5 before Symonds rescued them. Against England, they were 114-7 chasing 210 before Bevan and Bichel rescued them Against NZ, they were 85-7 before Bevan and Bichel rescued them again to a respectable 208. Against SL in semis, they were bowled out for 212. Symonds scored 91. But in 2007, both batting and bowling equally created carnage. These are Australia's batting first scores. 334/6 vs. Scotland 358/5 vs. Netherlands 377/6 vs. South Africa 322/6 vs. WI 348/6 vs. NZ 281/4 (38ov) vs. SL (FINAL) These are their successful chases. 106/0 (13.5ov) vs. Bangladesh 248/3 (47.2ov) vs. England 92/1 (12.2ov) vs. Ireland 232/3 (42.4ov) vs. SL 153/3 (31.3ov) vs. SA (SEMI) I think no team ever produced such a sheer dominant performance in any of the World Cup. Their utter dominance is one of the reason why that 2007 edition was a boring affair.

Very good reply substantiated by statistics.However I feel the 2003 had a marginal edge as a unit.It's win in the final was more comprehensive in 2003 and the opposition was marginally better in 2003 if you account for India,Pakistan or even New Zealand.The Proteas were hardly at their best ,nor were India.Anyway the margin was only a whisker. good post,sir.

[Harsh Thakor]

should have had windies 1983 and India 2003 also in the poll

agreed-no space.

[CoverDrive]

Incidentally India 2003 and Windies 1983 both lost only to one team twice who went on to win the cup