The Cricket World Cup is arguably the biggest event for cricket lovers, enthusiasts and especially for players who work hard for years to make it into a WC squad.
Over the years, the gentleman’s game has evolved, changed to colour and there are some moments you can never forget if you’ve been in sync with the game that’s close to being a religion in India.
Here are some iconic photos that’ll rewind every glorious year of cricket World Cup that has gone down in history:
1. Jonty Rhodes running out Inzamam-ul-Haq in Flash-like manner.
South Africa vs Pakistan, Group Match, 1996
2. The credit to the 2011 win went to these two gentlemen who were there till the very end.
India vs Sri Lanka, Final, 2011
3. Allan Donald & Lance Klusener ending on the same side of the crease as Donald was dismissed, ending South Africa’s 1999 challenge.
Australia vs South Africa, Final, 1999
4. Inzamam-ul-Haq playing a swashbuckling knock of 60 from just 37 balls.
New Zealand vs Pakistan, Semi-Final, 1992
5. South Africa’s dream of glory washed away thanks to the Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) method setting an impossible target of 21 runs in 1 ball.
South Africa vs Sri Lanka, Group Match, 2003
South Africa vs Sri Lanka, Group Match, 2003
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6. Sachin Tendulkar’s stumping by Romesh Kaluwitharana, which cut-short India’s stint in this world cup.
India vs Sri Lanka, Semi-Final, 1996
7. Wasim Akram running riot against New Zealand with a magical spell in which he picked 2 wickets in 2 balls.
New Zealand vs Pakistan, Final, 1992
8. Herschelle Gibbs hitting the 6th six off Dan van Bunge to make it six sixes in an over.
South Africa vs The Netherlands, Group Match, 2007
9. Mike Gatting regretting the reverse sweep against Australia, which ultimately led to his dismissal.
England vs Australia, Final, 1987
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10. Rubel Hossain sends the English packing in one of the biggest upsets as Bangladesh beat England.
England vs Bangladesh, Group Stage 2015
11. Kevin O’ Brien played the innings of his life to chase England’s massive total in 2011.
England vs Ireland, Group Match, 2011
12. Bermuda’s Dwayne Leverock makes a Superman catch to dismiss Robin Uthappa.
India vs Bermuda, Group Match, 2007
13. A group stage loss to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka meant India crashed out in the group stages of the 2007 world cup.
India vs Bangladesh, Group Match, 2007
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14. After the disasters of the 2003 final and the 2007 campaign, 2011 was revenge time. Sachin had finally won the world cup.
India vs Sri Lanka, Final, 2011
15. A brilliant knock from Sourav Ganguly annihilated any challenge from defending champions Sri Lanka. India won by 157 runs courtesy of an massive 183 from Dada.
India vs Sri Lanka, Group Match, 1999
16. India claimed their maiden world cup title in the year 1983. Winning against the mighty West Indies was no small feat as the picture explains.
West Indies vs India, Final, 1983
17. It was an Indian captain to lift the cup as Kapil Dev became the youngest captain to win the world cup.
West Indies vs India, Final, 1983
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18. Kiran More’s constant chatter and appealing behind the stump agitated Javed Miandad who then started imitating the Indian keeper by jumping around his crease.
India vs Pakistan, Group Stage, 1992
19. Aamir Sohail mocked Venkatesh Prasad after hitting him for a couple of boundaries.
India vs Pakistan, Group Match, 1996
India vs Pakistan, Group Match, 1996
20. Venkatesh Prasad came back stronger after being hit for 2 consecutive fours and clean-bowled Aamir Sohail, sending him back to the pavilion.
India vs Pakistan, Group Match, 1996
21. An innings of 175 runs off 138 balls by Kapil Dev after India were earlier reduced to 17 for five.
India vs Zimbabwe, Group Match, 1983
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22. The roar of Yuvraj Singh after India eliminated Australia in the quarter-final of the 2011 world cup.
India vs Australia, Quarter-Final, 2011
23. John Mooney has a celebratory ‘punching the air’ moment after hitting the winning runs for Ireland against West Indies.
Ireland vs West Indies, Group Match, 2015
24. If there had to be a probability for someone to score a double-ton in the world cup, it had to be that man Chris Gayle.
West Indies vs Zimbabwe, Group Match, 2015
25. Winning your first ever world cup game is of course iconic. Shapoor Zadran of Afghanistan makes the most of that moment.
Afghanistan v Scotland, Group Match, 2015
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26. Bangladesh just managed to make it to the quarter-finals and this dismissal of Chris Jordan was marginal.
England vs Bangladesh, Group Match, 2015
27. Brendan Taylor’s final innings for Zimbabwe where he scored a ton but in a losing cause. The opposition (Kohli, Dhawan and Raina) simply took note and appreciated Taylor’s hard work.
India vs Zimbabwe, Group Stage, 2015
28. India’s Chetan Sharma registering the first ever world cup hattrick is one of the iconic moments in a major tournament.
India vs New Zealand, Super 8s, 1987
29. Slow and steady in this doesn’t win the race – Gavaskar scored a paltry 36 runs in 174 balls. An excruciatingly slow effort, one never seen before.
England vs India, Group Match, 1975
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30. When all of India cried along with Vinod Kambli and the first ever world cup final got abandoned in Sri Lanka’s favour. Not just that – Eden Garden’s seats were on fire and plastic bottles were thrown on the ground.
India vs Sri Lanka, Semi-Final, 1996
India vs Sri Lanka, Semi-Final, 1996
31. The Kenyans beat Sri Lanka in the 2003 world cup quarter-final making an appearance in their first and only semi final in WC history.
Sri Lanka vs Kenya, Quarter-Final, 2003
32. Clive Lloyd’s genius saw the world cup being lifted for the first time ever in 1975. The inaugural tournament was won by West Indies by 15 runs. Lloyd lifted the trophy at Lord’s stadium in London.
West Indies vs Australia, Final, 1975
33. In the 1975 final, things would’ve stacked differently if not for this Ian Chappell run out. The quote “never run off a misfield” was coined here.
West Indies vs Australia, Final, 1975
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34. Kapil Dev’s athletic prowess worked wonders for India as they halted West Indies’ 100% record. He ran for quite a distance (from mid-on to mid-wicket) to dismiss Vivian Richards and do the unthinkable.
West Indies vs India, Final, 1983
35. Herschelle Gibbs dropped the iconic Steve Waugh (while he was batting on 56) and that’s when someone quipped, “you just dropped the world cup.”
South Africa vs Australia, Quarter Finals, 1999
With the next edition less than 48 hours away, there’ll surely be additions to such iconic moments in the coming days.
