It is generally not advised to look back at things but sometimes, you can’t stop yourself. These moments from different cricket World Cups fall in that category. These moments play in our heads very often as we think of things that could have been. Read on.

1. Hasan Ali dropping the catch in World T20, 2021 semi-final.

Hasan Ali dropped Mathew Wade’s catch in the 19th over the World Cup semi-final and Wade went on to score 3 sixes after that. One must refrain from zeroing down a team’s defeat to one player’s one bad moment on the field. But this one did cost them a lot.

The Sports Rush

2. Misbah going for a 6 in World T20, 2007 final.

This was quite similar to Hasan’s dropped catch in terms of the damage it did and when. Pakistan had almost won the match and attempting to score a boundary was not an obligation. But still, Misbah went for it, got caught by Sreesanth and Pakistan lost.

3. Sehwag’s run out in World Cup, 2003 final.

Sehwag amassed solid 82 runs in the final of World Cup, 2003 and it was his run-out that prove to be a turning point in the whole thing, and India eventually lost the trophy to Australia. Which hurt more than it should have because it wasn’t really expected from us to go that far.

4. Mushfiqur Rahman’s dismissal in the 2016 World Cup match between India and Bangladesh.

2 runs from 3 balls wasn’t a big ask, but India miraculously managed to defend the total and emerged victorious by 1 run, thanks to MS Dhoni’s genius. It could have turned into something historic for Bangladesh but things were just not meant to be for them that day.

5. Nuwan Kulasekara dropping Gautam Gambhir who then went on to score a match-winning 97-run innings for India in World Cup, 2011.

Quora

6. Ball getting deflected off Joe Root’s bat in World Cup, 2019, that led to the match ending up in a tie. Following that, the super-over also ended in a tie – and England eventually (and controversial) won the trophy.

In the final over of the match, Martin Guptill’s throw hit Joe Root’s bat and went for 4. Root had already scored 2 runs at that point, so 6 runs were awarded to England. Had this deflection not happened, England would have had 4 fewer runs to their name, and hence, the match would have likely not ended in a draw. But well.

What if these things had not happened? We’ll never know.