ICC Cricket World Cup
Administrator	International Cricket Council
Format	One Day International
First tournament	1975, England
Last tournament	2011, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka
Next tournament	2015, Australia and New Zealand
Tournament format	multiple (refer to article)
Number of teams	19
Current champion	India (2 titles)
Most successful	Australia (4 titles)
Most runs	Sachin Tendulkar (2,278)
Most wickets	Glenn McGrath (71)
v t e

The ICC Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of men's One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), with preliminary qualification rounds leading up to a finals tournament which is held every four years. The tournament is the world's fourth-largest and fourth-most-viewed sporting event.^[1][2] According to the ICC, it is the most important tournament and the pinnacle of achievement in the sport.^[3][4] The first Cricket World Cup contest was organised in England in 1975. A separate Women's Cricket World Cup has been held every four years since 1973.

The finals of the Cricket World Cup are contested by all ten Test-playing and ODI-playing nations, together with other nations that qualify through the World Cup Qualifier. Australia has been the most successful of the five teams to have won the tournament, taking four titles. The West Indies and India have won twice, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka have each won once.

The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was co-hosted by Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka from February 19 to April 2, 2011. 14 countries participated in the tournament. India won the cup by defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final in Mumbai on 2 April and became the first team to win the World Cup final on home soil.^[5]

History[link]

Before the first Cricket World Cup[link]

The first ever international cricket match was played between Canada and the United States, on the 24 and 25 September 1844. However, the first credited Test match was played in 1877 between Australia and England, and the two teams competed regularly for The Ashes in subsequent years. South Africa was admitted to Test status in 1889.^[6] Representative cricket teams were selected to tour each other, resulting in bilateral competition. Cricket was also included as an Olympic sport at the 1900 Paris Games, where Great Britain defeated France to win the gold medal.^[7] This was the only appearance of cricket at the Summer Olympics.

The first multilateral competition at international level was the 1912 Triangular Tournament, a Test cricket tournament played in England between all three Test-playing nations at the time: England, Australia and South Africa. The event was not a success: the summer was exceptionally wet, making play difficult on damp uncovered pitches, and attendances were poor, attributed to a "surfeit of cricket".^[8] In subsequent years, international Test cricket has generally been organised as bilateral series: a multilateral Test tournament was not organised again until the quadrangular Asian Test Championship in 1999.

The number of nations playing Test cricket increased gradually over the years, with the addition of West Indies in 1928, New Zealand in 1930, India in 1932, and Pakistan in 1952, but international cricket continued to be played as bilateral Test matches over three, four or five days.

In the early 1960s, English county cricket teams began playing a shortened version of cricket which only lasted for one day. Starting in 1962 with a four-team knockout competition known as the Midlands Knock-Out Cup,^[9] and continuing with the inaugural Gillette Cup in 1963, one-day cricket grew in popularity in England. A national Sunday League was formed in 1969. The first One-Day International event was played on the fifth day of a rain-aborted Test match between England and Australia at Melbourne in 1971, to fill the time available and as compensation for the frustrated crowd. It was a forty over match with eight balls per over.^[10] In the late 1970s, Kerry Packer established the rival World Series Cricket (WSC) competition, and it introduced many of the features of One Day International cricket that are now commonplace, including coloured uniforms, matches played at night under floodlights with a white ball and dark sight screens, and, for television broadcasts, multiple camera angles, effects microphones to capture sounds from the players on the pitch, and on-screen graphics. The first of the matches with coloured uniforms was the WSC Australians in wattle gold versus WSC West Indians in coral pink, played at VFL Park in Melbourne on 17 January 1979. It was credited[by whom?] with making cricket a more professional sport. The success and popularity of the domestic one-day competitions in England and other parts of the world, as well as the early One-Day Internationals, prompted the ICC to consider organising a Cricket World Cup.^[11]

Prudential World Cups[link]

The Prudential Cup trophy

The inaugural Cricket World Cup was hosted in 1975 by England, the only nation able to put forward the resources to stage an event of such magnitude at that time. The 1975 tournament started on 7 June.^[12] The first three events were held in England and officially known as the Prudential Cup after the sponsors Prudential plc. The matches consisted of 60 six-ball overs per team, played during the daytime in traditional form, with the players wearing cricket whites and using red cricket balls.^[13]

Eight teams participated in the first tournament: Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and the West Indies (the six Test nations at the time), together with Sri Lanka and a composite team from East Africa.^[14] One notable omission was South Africa, who were banned from international cricket due to apartheid. The tournament was won by the West Indies, who defeated Australia by 17 runs in the final at Lord's.^[14]

The 1979 World Cup saw the introduction of the ICC Trophy competition to select non-Test playing teams for the World Cup,^[15] with Sri Lanka and Canada qualifying.^[16] West Indies won a second consecutive World Cup tournament, defeating the hosts, England, by 92 runs in the final. At a meeting which followed the World Cup, the International Cricket Conference agreed to make the competition a quadrennial event.^[16]

The 1983 event was hosted by England for a third consecutive time. By this time, Sri Lanka had become a Test-playing nation, and Zimbabwe qualified through the ICC Trophy. A fielding circle was introduced, 30 yards (27 m) away from the stumps. Four fieldsmen needed to be inside it at all times.^[17] India, an outsider quoted at 66–1 to win by bookmakers before the competition began, were crowned champions after upsetting the West Indies by 43 runs in the final.^[11][18]

1987–1996[link]

The 1987 tournament, named the Reliance World Cup after their Indian sponsors, was held in India and Pakistan, the first time that the competition was held outside England. The games were reduced from 60 to 50 overs per innings, the current standard, because of the shorter daylight hours in the Indian subcontinent compared with England's summer.^[19] Australia won the championship by defeating England by 7 runs in the final, the closest margin in World Cup final history.^[20][21]

The 1992 World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand, introduced many changes to the game, such as coloured clothing, white balls, day/night matches, and an alteration to the fielding restrictions. The South African cricket team participated in the event for the first time, following the fall of the apartheid regime and the end of the international sports boycott.^[22] Pakistan overcame a dismal start to emerge as winners, defeating England by 22 runs in the final.^[23]

The 1996 championship was held in the Indian subcontinent for a second time, with the inclusion of Sri Lanka as host for some of its group stage matches.^[24] In the semi-final, Sri Lanka, heading towards a crushing victory over India at Eden Gardens (Calcutta) after their hosts lost eight wickets while scoring 120 runs in pursuit of 254, were awarded victory by default after crowd unrest broke out in protest against the Indian performance.^[25] Sri Lanka went on to win their maiden championship by defeating Australia by seven wickets in the final, which was held in Lahore.^[26]

Australian treble[link]

In 1999 the event was hosted by England, with some matches also being held in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands.^[27][28] Australia qualified for the semi-finals after reaching their target in their Super 6 match against South Africa off the final over of the match.^[29] They then proceeded to the final with a tied match in the semi-final (also against South Africa) where a mix-up between South African batsmen Lance Klusener and Allan Donald saw Donald drop his bat and stranded mid-pitch to be run out. In the final, Australia dismissed Pakistan for 132 and then reached the target in less than 20 overs, with eight wickets in hand.^[30]

A large crowd of over 10,000 fans welcome the Australian team on completing the first World Cup hat-trick – Martin Place, Sydney.

South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya hosted the 2003 World Cup. The number of teams participating in the event increased from twelve to fourteen. Kenya's victories over Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, among others – and a forfeit by the New Zealand team, which refused to play in Kenya because of security concerns – enabled Kenya to reach the semi-finals, the best result by an associate. In the final, Australia made 359 runs for the loss of two wickets, the largest ever total in a final, defeating India by 125 runs.^[31][32]

In 2007 the tournament was hosted by the West Indies; the Cricket World Cup became the first such tournament to be hosted on all six populated continents.^[33] Bangladesh progressed to the second round for the first time, after defeating India, and they later went on to defeat South Africa in the second round.^[34] Ireland making their World Cup debut tied with Zimbabwe and defeated Pakistan to progress to the second round, where they went on to defeating Bangladesh to get promoted to the main ODI table.^[35] Following their defeat to Ireland, the Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room; it was later found out that he died of heart failure,^[36] though his death may not have been a direct result of the match's outcome. Australia defeated Sri Lanka in the final by 53 runs (D/L), in farcical light conditions, extending their undefeated run in the World Cup to 29 matches and winning three straight World Cups.^[37]

2011[link]

The 2011 Cricket World Cup was jointly hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Pakistan were stripped of their hosting rights following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, with the games originally scheduled for Pakistan redistributed to the other host countries.

The 2011 World Cup was the tenth edition of the tournament. Fourteen teams participated, split into two pools of seven teams each. The top four teams from each group qualified for the quarter-finals. India won their second World Cup title by beating Sri Lanka in the finals.

Future[link]

The next World Cups will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2015, and England and Wales in 2019.

Format[link]

Qualification[link]

The Test-playing nations qualify automatically for the World Cup main event, while the other teams have to qualify through a series of preliminary qualifying tournaments. The One Day International playing nations automatically enter the final qualification tournament, the World Cup Qualifier, along with other nations who have qualified through separate competitions.

Qualifying tournaments were introduced for the second World Cup, where two of the eight places in the finals were awarded to the leading teams in the ICC Trophy.^[15] The number of teams selected through the ICC Trophy has varied throughout the years; currently, six teams are selected for the Cricket World Cup. The World Cricket League (administered by the International Cricket Council) is the qualification system provided to allow the Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC more opportunities to qualify.The name "ICC Trophy" has been changed to "ICC World Cup Qualifier".^[38]

Under the current qualifying process, the World Cricket League, all 91 Associate and Affiliate members of the ICC are able to qualify for the World Cup. Associate and Affiliate members must play between two and five stages in the ICC World Cricket League to qualify for the World Cup finals, depending on the Division in which they start the qualifying process.

Process summary in chronological order:

1. Regional tournaments: Top teams from each regional tournaments will be promoted to a division depending on the teams' rankings according to the ICC and each division's empty spots.
2. Division One: 6 Teams – All automatically qualify for the World Cup Qualifier.
3. Division Three: 6 Teams – Top 2 promoted to Division Two.
4. Division Two: 6 Teams – Top 4 qualify for the World Cup Qualifier.
5. Division Five: 6 Teams – Top 2 promoted to Division Four.
6. Division Four: 6 Teams – Top 2 promoted to Division Three.
7. Division Three (second edition): 6 Teams – Top 2 qualify for the World Cup Qualifier.
8. World Cup Qualifier: 12 Teams – Top 6 are awarded ODI status and Top 4 qualify for the World Cup.

Tournament[link]

The captains of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

The format of the Cricket World Cup has changed greatly over the course of its history. Each of the first four tournaments was played by eight teams, divided into two groups of four.^[39] There, competition comprised two stages, a group stage and a knock-out stage. The four teams in each group played each other in the round-robin group stage, with the top two teams in each group progressing to the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals played against each other in the final. With the return of South Africa in 1992 after the ending of the apartheid boycott, nine teams played each other once in the group phase, and the top four teams progressed to the semi-finals.^[40] The tournament was further expanded in 1996, with two groups of six teams.^[41] The top four teams from each group progressed to quarter-finals and semi-finals.

A new format was used for the 1999 and 2003 World Cups. The teams were split into two pools, with the top three teams in each pool advancing to the Super 6.^[42] The "Super 6" teams played the three other teams that advanced from the other group. As they advanced, the teams carried their points forward from previous matches against other teams advancing alongside them, giving them an incentive to perform well in the group stages.^[42] The top four teams from the "Super 6" stage progressed to the semi-finals, with winners playing in the final.

The last format used in the 2007 World Cup, features 16 teams allocated into four groups of four.^[43] Within each group, the teams play each other in a round-robin format. Teams earn points for wins and half-points for ties. The top two teams from each group move forward to the Super 8 round. The "Super 8" teams play the other six teams that progressed from the different groups. Teams earned points in the same way as the group stage, but carrying their points forward from previous matches against the other teams who qualified from the same group to the "Super 8" stage.^[44] The top four teams from the "Super 8" round advance to the semi-finals, and the winners of the semi-finals play in the final.

The current format, approved by ICC to be used in 2011 World Cup, features 14 teams allocated. Within each group, the teams will play in a round-robin format. The top four teams from each group will proceed to the knock out stage playing quarter-finals. Winners of the quarter-finals will play semi-finals and the winning semi-finalists will play in the final.

Trophy[link]

The Cricket World Cup trophy which is kept by the ICC.

The ICC Cricket World Cup Trophy is presented to the winners of the World Cup finals. The current trophy was created for the 1999 championships, and was the first permanent prize in the tournament's history; prior to this, different trophies were made for each World Cup.^[45] The trophy was designed and produced in London by a team of craftsmen from Garrard & Co over a period of two months.

The current trophy is made from silver and gild, and features a golden globe held up by three silver columns. The columns, shaped as stumps and bails, represent the three fundamental aspects of cricket: batting, bowling and fielding, while the globe characterises a cricket ball.^[46] It stands 60 cm high and weighs approximately 11 kilograms. The names of the previous winners are engraved on the base of the trophy, with space for a total of twenty inscriptions.

The original trophy is kept by the ICC. A replica, which differs only in the inscriptions, is permanently awarded to the winning team.

Media coverage[link]

Mello

The tournament is the world's third largest (with only the FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics exceeding it), being televised in over 200 countries to over 2.2 billion television viewers.^{[1][2][47][48]} Television rights, mainly for the 2011 and 2015 World Cup, were sold for over US$1.1 billion,^[49] and sponsorship rights were sold for a further US$500 million.^[50] The 2003 Cricket World Cup matches were attended by 626,845 people,^[51] while the 2007 Cricket World Cup sold more than 672,000 tickets and recorded the highest ticketing revenue for a Cricket World Cup.^[52][53]

Successive World Cup tournaments have generated increasing media attention as One-Day International cricket has become more established. The 2003 World Cup in South Africa was the first to sport a mascot, Dazzler the zebra. An orange raccoon-like creature known as Mello was the mascot for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Stumpy, a blue elephant was the mascot for the 2011 World Cup.^[54]

Selection of hosts[link]

Civic Centre, South Africa honours the 2003 World Cup.

The International Cricket Council's executive committee votes for the hosts of the tournament after examining the bids made by the nations keen to hold a Cricket World Cup.^[55]

England hosted the first three competitions. The ICC decided that England should host the first tournament because it was ready to devote the resources required to organising the inaugural event.^[12] India volunteered to host the third Cricket World Cup, but most ICC members believed England to be a more suitable venue because the longer period of daylight in England in June^[56] meant that a match could be completed in one day.^[57] The 1987 Cricket World Cup was the first hosted outside England, held in Pakistan and India.

Many of the tournaments have been jointly hosted by nations from the same geographical region, such as South Asia in 1987, 1996 and 2011, Australasia in 1992, Southern Africa in 2003 and West Indies in 2007.

Tournament history[link]

Performances by teams[link]

Map of each nation's best results

Nineteen nations have qualified for the finals of the Cricket World Cup at least once (excluding qualification tournaments). Seven teams have competed in every finals tournament, five of which have won the title.^[11] The West Indies won the first two tournaments, and Australia has won four, India has won two, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka have each won once. The West Indies (1975 and 1979) and Australia (1999, 2003 and 2007) are the only nations to have won consecutive titles.^[11] Australia has played in 6 of the 10 final matches (1975, 1987, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007). England has yet to win the World Cup, but has been runners-up three times (1979, 1987, 1992). The best result by a non-Test playing nation is the semi-final appearance by Kenya in the 2003 tournament; while the best result by a non-Test playing team on their debut is the Super 8 (second round) by Ireland in 2007.^[11]

Sri Lanka, who co-hosted the 1996 Cricket World Cup, was the first host to win the tournament, though the final was held in Pakistan.^[11] India won the 2011 as host and was the first team to win in a final played in their own country.^[58] Other countries which have achieved or equalled their best World Cup results while co-hosting the tournament are New Zealand, semi-finalists in 1992; Zimbabwe, reaching the Super Six in 2003; and Kenya, semi-finalists in 2003.^[11] In 1987, co-hosts India and Pakistan both reached the semi-finals, but were eliminated by Australia and England respectively.^[11]

Entrants[link]

Debutant teams[link]

Year	Teams
1975	Australia, East Africa†,  England,  India,  New Zealand,  Pakistan,  Sri Lanka,  West Indies
1979	Canada
1983	Zimbabwe
1987	none
1992	South Africa
1996	Kenya,  Netherlands,  United Arab Emirates
1999	Bangladesh,  Scotland
2003	Namibia
2007	Bermuda,  Ireland
2011	none

†No longer exists.

Overview[link]

The table below provides an overview of the performances of teams over past World Cups, as of the end of the 2011 tournament. Teams are sorted by best performance, then total number of wins, then total number of games, then by alphabetical order.

Team	Appearances			Best result	Statistics
	Total	First	Latest		Played	Won	Lost	Tie	NR
Australia	10	1975	2011	Champions (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007)	76	55	19	1	1
India	10	1975	2011	Champions (1983, 2011)	67	39	26	1	1
West Indies	10	1975	2011	Champions (1975, 1979)	64	38	25	0	1
Pakistan	10	1975	2011	Champions (1992)	64	36	26	0	2
Sri Lanka	10	1975	2011	Champions (1996)	66	31	31	1	2
England	10	1975	2011	Runners-up (1979, 1987, 1992)	66	39	25	1	1
New Zealand	10	1975	2011	Semifinals (1975, 1979, 1992, 1999, 2007, 2011)	70	40	29	0	1
South Africa	6	1992	2011	Semifinals (1992, 1999, 2007)	47	31	14	2	0
Kenya	5	1996	2011	Semifinals (2003)	29	6	22	0	1
Zimbabwe	8	1983	2011	Super Six (1999, 2003)	51	10	37	1	3
Bangladesh	4	1999	2011	Super 8 (2007)	26	8	17	0	1
Ireland	2	2007	2011	Super 8 (2007)	15	4	10	1	0
Canada	4	1979	2011	Group Stage	18	2	16	0	0
Netherlands	4	1996	2011	Group Stage	20	2	18	0	0
United Arab Emirates	1	1996	1996	Group Stage	5	1	4	0	0
Bermuda	1	2007	2007	Group Stage	3	0	3	0	0
Namibia	1	2003	2003	Group Stage	6	0	6	0	0
Scotland	2	1999	2007	Group Stage	8	0	8	0	0
East Africa†	1	1975	1975	Group Stage	3	0	3	0	0

†No longer exists.

Team results[link]

Comprehensive team results of over past World Cups.

Team 1975 1979 1983 1987 1992 1996 1999 2003 2007 2011  Australia 2nd R1 R1 1st R1 2nd 1st 1st 1st QF  Bangladesh R1 R1 S8 R1  Bermuda R1  Canada R1 R1 R1 R1 East Africa† R1    England SF 2nd SF 2nd 2nd QF R1 R1 S8 QF  India R1 R1 1st SF R1 SF S6 2nd R1 1st  Ireland S8 R1  Kenya R1 R1 SF R1 R1  Namibia R1  Netherlands R1 R1 R1 R1  New Zealand SF SF R1 R1 SF QF SF S6 SF SF  Pakistan R1 SF SF SF 1st QF 2nd R1 R1 SF  Scotland R1 R1  South Africa SF QF SF R1 SF QF  Sri Lanka R1 R1 R1 R1 R1 1st R1 SF 2nd 2nd  United Arab Emirates R1  West Indies 1st 1st 2nd R1 R1 SF R1 R1 S8 QF  Zimbabwe R1 R1 R1 R1 S6 S6 R1 R1 †No longer exists.

Legend[link] Looser SF – Semi-finals S8 – Super Eight (2007 only) S6 – Super Six (1999–2003) QF – Quarter-finals (1996 & 2011) R1 – First Round

Awards[link]

Man of the Tournament[link]

Since 1992, one player has been declared as "Man of the Tournament" at the end of the World Cup finals:^[59]

Year	Player	Performance details
1992	Martin Crowe	456 runs
1996	Sanath Jayasuriya	221 runs and 7 wickets
1999	Lance Klusener	281 runs and 17 wickets
2003	Sachin Tendulkar	673 runs and 2 wickets
2007	Glenn McGrath	26 wickets
2011	Yuvraj Singh	362 runs and 15 wickets

Man of the Match in the World Cup Final[link]

Previously, there was no tournament award, although Man of the Match awards have always been given for individual matches. Winning the Man of the Match in the final is logically noteworthy, as this indicates the player deemed to have played the biggest part in the World Cup final. To date the award has always gone to a member of the winning side. The Man of the Match award in the final of the competition has been awarded to:^[59]

Year	Player	Performance details
1975	Clive Lloyd	102 runs
1979	Viv Richards	138*
1983	Mohinder Amarnath	3/12 and 26
1987	David Boon	75 runs
1992	Wasim Akram	33 and 3/49
1996	Aravinda de Silva	107* and 3/42
1999	Shane Warne	4/33
2003	Ricky Ponting	140*
2007	Adam Gilchrist	149
2011	Mahendra Singh Dhoni	91*

Tournament records[link]

Main individual and team records[link]

Sachin Tendulkar, the leading run-scorer in World Cup history.

World Cup records[60]
Batting
Most runs	Sachin Tendulkar	2278 (1992–2011)
Highest average (min. 20 inns.)	Viv Richards	63.31 (1975–1987)
Highest score	Gary Kirsten v UAE	188* (1996)
Highest partnership	Sourav Ganguly & Rahul Dravid (2nd wicket) v Sri Lanka	318 (1999)
Most runs in a tournament	Sachin Tendulkar	673 (2003)
Bowling
Most wickets	Glenn McGrath	71 (1996–2007)
Lowest average (min. 1000 balls bowled)	Glenn McGrath	19.21 (1996–2007)
Best bowling figures	Glenn McGrath v Namibia	7/15 (2003)
Most wickets in a tournament	Glenn McGrath	26 (2007)
Fielding
Most dismissals (wicket-keeper)	Adam Gilchrist	39 (1999–2007)
Most catches (fielder)	Ricky Ponting	28 (1996–2011)
Team
Highest score	India v Bermuda	413/5 (2007)
Lowest score	Canada v Sri Lanka	36 (2003)
Highest win %	Australia	74% (Played 76, Won 55)
Most consecutive wins	Australia	26 (1999–2011)
Most consecutive tournament wins	Australia	3 (1999–2007)[61]

See also[link]

Cricket portal

• U/19 Cricket World Cup
• Women's Cricket World Cup

References[link]

• Browning, Mark (1999). A complete history of World Cup Cricket. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7318-0833-9. 

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Official ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 website
• Official ICC website

v t e International cricket ICC · World Cup · Champions Trophy · World Twenty20 · World Test Championship · Test Championship · ODI Championship · U-19 World Cup · Women's World Cup · Intercontinental Cup · World Cricket League · Awards Test cricket · One Day International · Twenty20 International Asia ACC – Asia Cup (ODI) · ACC Trophy (List A) · ACC Twenty20 Cup (Twenty20) Africa ACA – WCL Africa Americas ACA – Americas Championship East Asia and Pacific EAP – ICC EAP Cricket Trophy (One day) · ICC EAP Cricket Trophy (Twenty20) Europe ECC – European Championship Members Full Members, Associate Members, Affiliate Members

A World Cup is a type of sporting competition.

World Cup commonly refers to:

• FIFA World Cup (men's association football)
• ICC Cricket World Cup
• Rugby World Cup (rugby union)
• Rugby League World Cup (rugby league)

World Cup can also refer to:

Athletics[link]

• IAAF World Cup in Athletics
• ITU Triathlon World Cup

Baseball and softball[link]

• Baseball World Cup
• Women's Baseball World Cup
• World Cup of Softball

Cricket[link]

• ICC World Twenty20 (cricket)
• Indoor Cricket World Cup
• Women's Cricket World Cup

Equestrian[link]

• Dubai World Cup (horse racing)
• Show Jumping World Cup (equestrian)

Football[link]

Association football[link]

• FIFA Club World Cup (men's association football)
• FIFA Women's World Cup (women's association football)
• FIFA U-20 World Cup
• FIFA U-17 World Cup
• FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
• FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
• FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup
• FIFA Futsal World Cup (indoor association football)
• FIFI Wild Cup
• VIVA World Cup (non-FIFA nations football)

Australian Rules football[link]

• Australian Football International Cup

American football[link]

• IFAF World Cup

Hockey[link]

• Hockey World Cup (field hockey)
• Women's Hockey World Cup (field hockey)
• World Cup of Hockey (ice hockey)

Rugby[link]

• Rugby World Cup Sevens (rugby union)
• Touch Football World Cup
• Women's Rugby League World Cup
• Women's Rugby World Cup (rugby union)

Tennis[link]

• Davis Cup (tennis)
• Fed Cup (women's tennis)
• World Team Cup (tennis)

Water sports[link]

• Canoe Slalom World Cup
• FINA Diving World Cup
• FINA Swimming World Cup
• FINA Water Polo World Cup

Winter sports[link]

• Alpine Skiing World Cup
• Bandy World Cup
• Bandy World Cup for women
• Biathlon World Cup
• Bobsleigh World Cup
• FIS Cross-Country World Cup
• FIS Nordic Combined World Cup
• FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
• FIS Snowboard World Cup
• Luge World Cup
• Short Track Speed Skating World Cup
• Skeleton World Cup (toboggan)
• Speed Skating World Cup
• World Cup in Ski Orienteering

Other sports[link]

• AMF World Cup (ten-pin bowling)
• Artistic Gymnastics World Cup
• Boxing World Cup
• ISSF World Cup (shooting)
• Orienteering World Cup
• Paralympic World Cup (multiple sports)
• Paralympic Winter World Cup (multiple sports)
• PBR World Cup (bull riding)
• PDC World Cup of Darts
• Roller Derby World Cup
• Rowing World Cup
• Speedway World Cup (motorcycle)
• UCI World Cup (various cycling world cups)
• Volleyball World Cup
• Women's Lacrosse World Cup
• Women's World Cup of Golf
• World Cup (men's golf)
• World Cup of Pool
• World Inline Cup (inline speed skating)
• World Cup (snooker)

See also[link]

• World championship
• World Cup trophy (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Wasim Akram
وسیم اکرم

Personal information
Full name	Wasim Akram Chaudhry
Born	(1966-06-03) 3 June 1966 (age 46) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Nickname	Sultan of Swing, The Two W's (with Waqar Younis), King Of Swing
Batting style	Left hand bat
Bowling style	Left arm fast
Role	(All-rounder) bowler and batsman
International information
National side	Pakistan
Test debut (cap 102)	25 January 1984 v New Zealand
Last Test	9 January 2002 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 53)	23 November 1984 v New Zealand
Last ODI	4 March 2003 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.	3
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2003	Hampshire
2000–2001	Lahore
1997–1998	Lahore
1992–2002	Pakistan International Airlines
1988–1998	Lancashire
1986–1987	Lahore
1985–1986	Lahore
1984–1986	Pakistan Automobiles Corporation
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	104	356	257	594
Runs scored	2898	3717	7161	6993
Batting average	22.64	16.52	22.73	18.90
100s/50s	3/7	0/6	7/24	0/17
Top score	257*	86	257*	89*
Balls bowled	22627	18186	50278	29719
Wickets	414	502	1042	881
Bowling average	23.62	23.52	21.64	21.91
5 wickets in innings	25	6	70	12
10 wickets in match	5	0	16	0
Best bowling	7/119	5/15	8/30	5/10
Catches/stumpings	44/0	88/0	97/0	147/0
Source: ESPNCricinfo, 4 April 2012

Wasim Akram (Punjabi: وسیم اکرم; born 3 June 1966) is a former Pakistani cricketer. He is a left arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman who represented the Pakistan national cricket team in Test cricket and One Day International (ODI) matches.

Akram is regarded as one of the best fast bowlers in the history of cricket. He holds the world record for most wickets in List A cricket with 881 and is second only to Sri Lankan off-spin bowler, Muttiah Muralitharan in terms of ODI wickets with 502. He is considered to be one of the founders and perhaps the finest exponent of reverse swing bowling.^[1][2][3]

He was the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup. In 2002 Wisden released its only list of best players of all time. Wasim was ranked as the best bowler in ODI of all time with a rating of 1223.5, ahead of Allan Donald, Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Joel Garner, Glen McGrath and Muralitharan.^[4] Wasim has taken 23 4-wicket hauls in ODI in 356 matches he played.^[1] On 30 September 2009, Akram was one of five new members inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.^[5][6] He is the current bowling coach of Kolkata Knight Riders.^[7]

Early and personal life[link]

Akram was born in Lahore, Pakistan on 3 June 1966, to a moderately affluent middle-class arain family.^[8] He was educated at Islamia College in Lahore, where he played as an opening bowler and batsman.^[8] Like several other Pakistani cricketers during the 1980s, his inclusion into the national side was at the behest of a senior player in the team, which in Akram's case, was Javed Miandad.^[9]

At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it."^[10] Since then he has actively sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.^[11]

He married Huma in 1995. They had two sons Taimur and Akbar^[12] from their marriage of fifteen years. Huma died of multiple organ failure at Apollo Hospital in Chennai, India on 25 October 2009.^[13]

International career[link]

First-class cricket[link]

In 1988 he signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England and went on to become their most successful overseas players. From 1988 to 1998, he opened their bowling attack in their ECB Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup and National League tournaments. He was a favorite of the local British fans who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1998, with Akram as captain Lancashire won the ECB Trophy and Axa League and finished second in the championship tournament despite losing only five matches in all competitions throughout the season. Apart from the National League second division title in 2003, this was the last time Lancashire won a trophy.^[14]

Test cricket[link]

Akram made his Test cricket debut for Pakistan against New Zealand in 1985^[15] and in only his second Test match, he claimed 10 wickets.^[16] A few weeks prior to his selection into the Pakistan team, he was an unknown club cricketer who had failed to make it even to his college team. He came to the trials at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in Pakistan, but for the first two days he did not get a chance to bowl. On the third day he got a chance; his performance convincing Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the national team.^[9] Akram was hence given an opportunity to play for Pakistan, without any significant domestic experience. In the 1987 Cricket World Cup, when Pakistan played against the West Indies, Akram bowled to Viv Richards in the late overs of the innings but Richards, who is regarded as the best batsman during that period, struggled against Akram's bowling performances.

Akram's rise in international cricket was rapid during the late 1980s. When Pakistan toured the West Indies in 1988, he looked to be the fastest bowler between the two sides. However, a groin injury impeded his career in the late 1980s. Following two surgeries, he re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.^[17]

One Day International[link]

Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan in 1984 under the Captaincy of Zaheer Abaass.^[18] He rose to prominence taking 5 wickets in his just 3rd ODI against a strong Australian side in 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship who would be future winners of 1987 World Cup. His wickets included that of Kepler Wessels, Dean Jones and Captain Allan Border.^[19]

Rise to prominence (1983- Dec 1991)[link]

In 1984-85 Rothmans Four-Nations Cup and 1985-86 Rothmans Sharjah Cup he took 5 wickets with a run rate of under 3.50. time. He started improving his bowling with the passage of time taking help from senior Pakistani member Imran Khan.

The 1985-1986 Austral-Asia Cup involved Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka playing in UAE Sharjah. Wasim Akram with the help of Abdul Qadir bowled out New Zealand's batting line up for just 64 in the Second Semi final of Cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27 overs to spare obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistani history. In the Final against India he and Imran (captain at that time) shared five wickets between them. His wickets included Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri. Akram was becoming the darling of swing in Sharjah. His bowling was difficult to read, causing batsmen problems especially during the latter half of innings.

In 1987 Reliance World Cup held for the 1st time in the sub-continent, Akram struggled on Pakistani pitches where he managed only 7 wickets with an average of over 40 in 7 matches. Akram played West Indies, Sri Lanka and England twice. All group matches were played in Pakistan.

In 1988-89 Benson and Hedges World Series he managed figures of 4-25 against powerful Australia.^[20] He got his hundredth wicket at Sharjah in 1989-1990 Champions Trophy - 2nd Match against West Indies. His 100th wicket was of Ambrose. In that match he took a five-wickets haul for the second time in his career.^[21] In the same match he took his first hat-trick against West Indies. All 3 batsman were bowled.^[21][22][23] Again on 4 May 1990 in Sharjah, Akram took his second ODI hat-trick against Australia. All 3 batsmen were bowled this time also.^[22][24]

His best years in late 1980s were from 1986-1989 when which he took 100 wickets at 22.71 apiece and economy rate of less than 3.9 run/over with 4 4-wicket hauls. His first two 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh came in bowler friendly conditions of Sri Lanka in 1986.^[25]

Till Dec 1991 Akram took 143 wickets in 107 matches with an average of almost 24 and economy rate of 3.84. He took 5 4-wicket hauls.^[17]

Career peak (Jan 1992- Dec 1997)[link]

Akram was a significant figure in the 1992 Cricket World Cup held in Australia, when Pakistan won the tournament. In the final against England, his batting performance during his innings of 33 runs off 19 balls, pushed Pakistan to a respectable score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. Akram then took the important wicket of Ian Botham early on the English batting innings and when brought back into the bowling attack later on, with the ball reverse swinging, he produced a spell of bowling which led to Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis being bowled in successive deliveries in one over. His performances earned him the Man of the Match award for the final.^[26][27] In 1993 Akram took 2 consecutive 4-wicket hauls against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in which 7 out of 8 wickets were either lbw or bowled.^[28] In 1992-1993 Total International Series in South Africa (Involving Pakistan, West Indies and South Africa) his magic was destructive where he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in 143rd match.^[29][30][31] Akram took 46 wickets in calender year 1993 certainly his best year ever in ODI.Another astonishment was average which was less than 19 with an economy rate of less than 3.8 runs / over. He took 6 4-wicket hauls in 1993 most by him in any year.^[31] In 1996 World Cup he struggled as he missed crucial quarter final match against India which Pakistan lost and went out of the World Cup. From 1994 till 1996 he took 84 wickets in 39 matches.^[31]

From Jan 1992 - Dec 1997 Akram played 131 matches took 198 wickets at mere 21.86 apiece with 14 4-wicket hauls in ODIs.Run rate was also fantastic with less than 3.8 per over.^[17]

A tough period with some joys (Jan 1998 till 2003 world cup)[link]

In 1999, he led Pakistan to the brink of victory in the World Cup before they capitulated and was defeated by Australia in the final, by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare.^[32] This was the start of the match fixing controversies, as critics believed Akram had set up the match for Australia. However, none of the allegations could be proved.^[33][34]

He was Pakistan's best bowler in the 2003 Cricket World Cup taking 12 wickets in 6 matches.^[35] However, Pakistan failed to reach the "Super Six" phase of the tournament and Akram was one of the eight players to be sacked by the Pakistan Cricket Board as a result.^[36][37]

Records[link]

He got 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 tests. That is almost one per six matches and better than any other player in the history. He got 4 hat-tricks in International cricket - two in ODIs^[21][24] and two in Tests,^[38][39] which is another record. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In fact, Akram and Shaun Pollock (who also has 22) have the highest number of awards among players whose major suit isn't batting.^[17] In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls.^[17] His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number-8 batsman in tests. He hit 12 sixes in that, most by anyone in a test innings.^[40]

Captaincy[link]

Wasim Akram captained Pakistan in 109 ODI matches out of 356 he played. Pakistan won 66 matches of them. His win loss ratio of 1.60 puts him ahead of Imran Khan's1.27 and on par with Waqar Younis's 1.60.^[17] The high points of his captaincy was the 1996–1997 victory in the World Series Cricket in Australia, two Test match wins in India in 1998–1999 and in 1999, when Pakistan reached the 1999 Cricket World Cup final. The low point was the 1996 Cricket World Cup in Pakistan and India, when he had to pull out of the quarter final match against India, citing injury. After Pakistan's defeat, there were angry protests outside his home and riots across the country from angry fans who accused the team of throwing the match and a government inquiry was launched into the failure.

Retirement[link]

On 18 May 2003, at the age of 36, Akram abruptly announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a career which spanned 19 years. He had suggested that he was ready to quit several times towards the end of his career, but Pakistan's sub-par performance in the World Cup proved to be the deciding factor.^[41] Prior to his retirement, he was one of eight senior players dropped for the Sharjah Cup in April 2003, and was then omitted from the Pakistan squad for the subsequent Bank Alfalah Cup triangular series.^[42] Due to his omission from the team, he did not participate in a farewell match. Akram fulfilled his contract play for Hampshire until the end of the English season.^[43]

Post retirement[link]

Media career[link]

Since retiring from cricket, Akram has worked and taken up commentary for television networks and can currently be seen as a sports commentator for ESPN Star Sports and ARY Digital among others. He did commentary on a variety of sporting tournaments including the 2009 Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia, the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 in England, the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa, and the 2011 ICC World Cup in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Coaching career[link]

In 2010, Akram was appointed the bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders, the Indian Premier League team for Kolkata. Sourav Ganguly was always keen to have Akram as the bowling coach for India, during the former's stint as Indian captain. Although this never happened, his dreams were realised to some extent, when Akram was appointed as the bowling coach for the franchise.^[44] While working for the Kolkata Knight Riders, he was also responsible for the signing of Pakistani domestic left-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan.^[45] Akram has also been coaching in Pakistan fast bowling camps, his most notable discovery being the teenage Pakistani bowler Muhammad Amir.

Skills in cricket[link]

During his professional career he bowled with genuine speed and hostility. Akram was a man possessed of accurate control of line and length, accompanied by seam and swing bowling skills, extended to both inswingers and outswingers. With a very quick bowling action, he could bowl equally well from both sides of the wicket. His mastery of reverse swing with the cricket ball meant he was at his most dangerous towards a bowling innings, and earned him the nickname of one of the "Sultans of Swing", the other one being Waqar Younis.

As well as often being able to find the edge of the bat, Akram would also focus his bowling attack on the stumps and had a particularly lethal inswinging yorker. Of his 414 Test wickets, 193 were taken caught, 119 were taken leg before wicket and 102 were bowled.^[47][48][49] In partnership with Waqar Younis, he intimidated international batsmen in the 1990s. Together Wasim and Waqar, known as "the two Ws" of the Pakistani team, were one of the most successful bowling partnerships in cricket.^[50]

Akram was also skilled with the bat and was regarded as a bowling all-rounder. He was especially effective against spin bowlers. However, he liked to slog and was criticised for his lack of high scores and giving away his wicket too cheaply for a player of his talent. He did silence his critics and the media in October 1996 when he scored 257 runs not out, of the team's total of 553 against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. He also achieved good scores for the Pakistan team such as his scores of 123 and 45* against Australia to take Pakistan to victory in a low scoring match. His batting was also valuable to the Pakistan ODI side, such as his match winning performance in the Nehru Cup, when needing six runs and two balls to win the match; he hit the first delivery he faced for six runs and secured the cup.

Modeling[link]

Akram walked the ramp at the Pantene Bridal Couture Week 2011 which was an event of Style 360.^[51][52]

Award and records[link]

Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003.

• In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64.^[53]
• In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.^[2]
• Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.^[2][53]
• Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches. Australia's Glenn McGrath broke the record during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches.^[54] On passing Wasim's record, McGrath said, "Wasim Akram, to me, is one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Left-armer, swung it both ways with the new ball and he was so dangerous with the old ball. To go past him is something I will always remember. Probably the other side of the coin is that if you play long enough, you're going to break records here and there."^[55]
• Akram took four hat-tricks in international cricket, two each in Tests matches and One Day Internationals. He is the only bowler in cricket to have achieved four hat-tricks. He was the third of only three bowlers to have taken two Test cricket hat-tricks, the others being Hugh Trumble and Jimmy Matthews. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram's Test hat-tricks are significant, since they were taken in consecutive Test matches in the same series, a game played against Sri Lanka in the 1998-99 Asian Test Championship. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.^[56][57]
• Playing in a Test series against the West Indies at Lahore in 1990–1991, he became one of only six players to have taken four wickets in an over during a Test match. In Akram's case, these achievement was not part of a hat-trick, the third ball he delivered to the batting opposition was a dropped catch, which allowed a single run.^[58][59]
• Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket.^[60][61]
• He also has the third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.^[62]
• He has scored the record number of runs in One Day International matches by a player who has never scored a One Day International hundred. His highest score was 86 runs.^[63]

Cricket controversies[link]

In 1992, after he had been successful against the English batsmen, accusations of ball tampering began to appear in the English media, though no video evidence of foul play was ever found. Akram and Younis had been able to obtain prodigious amounts of movement from both new and old cricket balls. The skill of the reverse swing delivery was relatively unknown in England and around the cricketing world during that period.

A far larger controversy was created when critics alleged that he was involved in match fixing. An inquiry commission was set up by the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by a Pakistan high court judge, Malik Mohammad Qayyum. The judge wrote in his report that:^[64]

This commission feels that all is not well here and that Wasim Akram is not above board. He has not co-operated with this Commission. It is only by giving Wasim Akram the benefit of the doubt after Ata-ur-Rehman changed his testimony in suspicious circumstances that he has not been found guilty of match-fixing. He cannot be said to be above suspicion.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Player profile: Wasim Akram from ESPNcricinfo
• Player profile: Wasim Akram from CricketArchive
• Player Profile: Wasim Akram from Yahoo! Cricket