Best World Cup Of All Time

September 04, 2021

Remember these gentlemen together?

I am talking about the Cricket World Cup series 2019 which was conducted at England&Wales.

I believe this was the toughest edition of a World Cup and a series. Unlike the previous World Cups, this time they didn't have teams like Scotland, Netherlands, Namibia, Ireland, Zimbabwe, etc. Competition was high and it was a round robin format. Every team had to face each other unlike the group stage one which has own advantages if NZ isn't kept in group where AUS is there.

If we recall the tournament then maximum matches were low scoring too and teams defended well. Also there were many shockers. Bangladesh went on beating South Africa and West Indies and to New Zealand gave tough competition. Prowess of Shakib Al Hasan. He scored 606 runs most by a Bangladeshi in a tournament and became the first ever cricketer to score 500+ runs and 10+ Wickets.

Then comes Sri Lanka. They didn't go well in the tournament. But, they defeated the hosts England closely. They had to defend 233 and it was 99 Percent England and 1 Percent Sri Lanka. Lasith Malinga and Dhananjaya De Silva together picked 7 wickets and ENG saw a horrible collapse after fifty of Joe Root.

Afghanistan. This team didn't gather a single match. Played very bad in low chases too. But, their match against India might be their best match in World Cup where they almost insulted India. Against NZ they took a 0–1. They were table enders of the tournament.

And then our archenemy, Pakistan. Horrible match against West Indies and India didn't allow them near Semi Finals. They defeated the Finalists ( New Zealand and England). Defeated South Africa too. They were quite unpredictable in World Cup. Had they been better in first half, they would have edged New Zealand.

I will talk about West Indies and South Africa together. They were the most disappointing team. Fans had lot of expectations from South Africa but they managed only single sweet victory against Australia and lost close games against New Zealand and Pakistan. West Indies didn't play anything good either. Both had their one match destroyed by rain. South Africa lost there itself when they denied AB de Villiers return.

And there came the Semi Finalists. India, Australia, England and New Zealand.

Australian team : Were ruthless in group stages. Everyone thought it will be Aus in the Finals for sure. They defeated England and New Zealand badly in Group stage. But, they lost badly at Edgbaston. They weren't up to mark either and choked badly.
Indian Team : They were table topper and lost only one unnecessary game. Had their one match drowned in rain. They were top choices for winners. Had consistency but lost badly in Semi Finals. Totally failed.
English Team : Were almost knocked. Lost against Pak, Aus and SL and were on verge of extinction from tournament. Quite lucky that Jason Roy risked some part of his fitness and there was intentless chase against India. Deserved World Cup tho!
New Zealand : They were the weakest. Didn't have a single victory against SEIA in group stage. Struggled by batting. Hadn't it been their skipper, NZ would have lost against WI and RSA too. Top contribution by bowling. Defeated India in Semi Finals being UNDERDOGS throughout tournament. Lost the Finals unfairly and by 0 wickets/runs. But, they too deserved the world Cup.

If I talk about the quality in the tournament.

Rohit Sharma made a record of most centuries by a batsman in a single edition of World Cup.
Virat Kohli and Steven Smith both went 0 century but made the streak of 50s. They made Five consecutive Fifties.
Shakib Al Hasan joined Sachin Tendulkar the most 50+ scores in an edition. He scored Seven(7) 50+ scores which Tendulkar did in 2003.
Mitchell Starc broke the record of Glenn Mcgrath for the most wickets in a single season. Starc took 27 and Mcgrath 26 in 2007
Kane Williamson broke the record of most runs as a captain of Mahela Jaywardhane. Kane scored 578 and Mahela 548 in 2007.
Eoin Morgan smashed the most sixes in a World Cup innings against Afghanistan (17) and broke the record of Chris Gayle(16)vs ZIM,2015.
Tom Latham equalled the record of Adam Gilchrist of most catches by a wicket keeper in a season(21) which Gilchrist did in 2003.
Joe Root broke the record of Ricky Ponting's most catches in an edition. Root had 13 catches while Ponting had 11 in 2003.

And, as I said this time only 10 opponents were there unlike 14. Making these sort of stats and record when you don't have much opportunities to score against bigger teams is nothing but unique.