Introduction

Cricket is one of the games, the craze of which is unbeatable. Love for cricket can be seen amongst children, teenagers and even adults. The craziness and love are not just limited to the game, but the players also receive the same love not just from the country they play for but also from other countries. International Cricket World Cup is played after every four years. It was introduced in the year 1975 by the International Cricket Council and was hosted by England, and West Indies won the final. Since then, the craze for the world cup amongst the fans has kept increasing, and the popularity and craze can be seen by the fact that people choose to stay at home and watch their teams playing Worldcup rather than going to work. Australia has won the most number of Worldcup, i.e. 5 times. Winning the World Cup is a dream for every player, but not everyone gets the chance to live it.

The current trophy is kept in ICC, and only the replica of the trophy is given to the winning team. In the history of the ICC Worldcup, Westindies and Australia are the only two teams which have won successive tournaments; west indies won the first two editions of the Worldcup i.e. 1975 and 1979, and Australia won three in a row in the year 1993, 2003 and 2007. Also, the team which has reached and played the final the most number of times is none other than Australia. Out of 12 finals, Australia has played seven of them. one of the biggest rivalries of Cricket- is India vs Pakistan; in the Worldcup, their matches are not just enjoyed by the fans of the respective teams but also by the fans of Cricket from other nations. Every team has a dream that they win the world cup, and the captain who won Worldcup for their team is remembered as heroes. From 1975 to 2019, the heroes who helped their teams win the world cup are called the Champions. Here in the article, we will see the list of teams and their story of writing their names in the history of Cricket by winning the Worldcup for their Nation and fans.

1. West Indies

The year was 1975; it was the time when Cricket was not that popular. West Indies team used to be known as Black Storm because of its unbeatable performances. During that time, Australia was the only team which could fight and stand against West Indies. And that's why the final of the Worldcup of 1975 was played between Australia and West Indies. And the West Indies beat Australia by 17 runs and became the first Winner of the ICC Worldcup.

The captain of the West Indies team was Clive Lyod, who played a very crucial inning, made a century in the final, and helped his team win the World Cup. He was awarded man of the match for this performance. He came to bat when the West Indies team was not in good condition, and the score was 50/3. He made a brilliant partnership with Rohan Kanhai for the fourth wicket and set a target of 292 to win in 62 overs. Australia failed to reach the target and went all out at a score of 274. And that's how West Indies won the first Worldcup.

Again in 1979, the same team, i.e. West Indies and the same ground, but the opponent was England. And the result was also the same; West Indies won their second Worldcup by defeating England at their home by a big margin of 92 runs. In this match, West Indies made 286 runs by losing 9 wickets, but in reply, England failed to score even 200 runs and went all out at a total of 194 runs in 51 Overs. Clive Lyod became the captain who helped his team win two world cups back to back. The Player of the match was awarded to Viv Richards, who made a century and scored 138* runs out of 157 balls.

2. India

The year was 1983. It was the time for a new Worldcup Winner. The final was played between West Indies and India. India was comparatively seen to be a weak team against West Indies. The captain of the Indian team was Kapil Dev.

In the finals, West Indies won the toss and decided to bowl first. The captain of the West Indies team was Clive Lyod, and the other main players were Gordon Greenidge, Joel Garner, Viv Richards and Andy Roberts.

India batted first and scored a very low total of 183 runs in 54.4 Overs. West Indies were all set to win their third title in a row. But then the exceptional bowling by Mohinder Amarnath of team India changed the scenario, and he took 3 wickets by giving 12 runs in seven overs. For this performance, he was selected as Player of the match. The other main players of the team were Balwinder Sandhu, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Krishnamachari Srikkanth and the legend Sunil Gavaskar. West Indies reached the finals by beating Pakistan in the semi-finals, whereas India reached the finals by defeating England by six wickets in the semi-finals.

In reply to India's total of 183, West Indies managed to score only 140 runs, and that's how India lifted his first Worldcup by defeating the unbeatable team West Indies and making history.

After a Drought of 28 years, In 2011, India again became the world champion by lifting the Worldcup trophy under the captainship of our Captain Cool- Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The day was 2nd April 2011. Srilanka won the toss and decided to bat first. They scored 274 runs at the loss of 4 wickets in 50 overs. Kumar Sangakara was heading the Sri Lankan team. For Srilanka, Mahela Jayawardene scored 103 runs in 88 balls.

What's interesting here is that the captain of both teams were wicketkeepers.

In reply, the start of India was not good, and the openers Virendra Sehwag and the God of Cricket -Sachin Tendulkar, got out early without scoring well.

It was the moment when the Worldcup was almost in the hands of Srilanka. But the brilliant knock by Gautam Gambhir and Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni helped India win its second Worldcup. Gambhir scored 97 and got out in the 42nd over, and Dhoni scored 91 runs, ended the match by hitting a Six, and made history again. MS Dhoni was awarded man of the match for his important and incredible knock. India became the third team after West Indies and Australia to win the ICC Worldcup trophy twice.

3. Australia

Australia has been one of the strongest teams since the start, which can be proved by the fact that it has won the most number of ICC Worldcup, i.e. five times. Here is how they made this record which still exists and has not been broken.

In the year 1987, Worldcup was hosted by India and Pakistan. It was the first time the Worldcup was hosted out of England. The final was played between Australia and England and is also known as the biggest World cup final as the result was not known until the last over. While batting first in the final, Australia made 253 runs by losing 5 wickets in 50 overs. For Australia, David boon scored 75 runs in 125 balls and was chosen Player of the match too. In reply, England scored 246 runs by losing 8 wickets in 50 overs. The match got extended to the last over, and England needed 17 runs in the last over. England failed to achieve the target, and Australia won the match by seven runs and their first Worldcup title.

Again in 1999, Australia was in the Worldcup final and was playing against Pakistan. At that time, Pakistan used to be seen as one of the world's strongest teams. Pakistan had bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, who could destroy any batting order. But the batters of Pakistan didn't score well, and they managed to set a target of only 132 runs and got all out in 39 overs. Australia achieved the target in just 20.1 overs just at the cost of two wickets. And that's how Australia became the World Champion for the second time.

In the year 2003, Australia was once again in the final of the ICC World Cup; this time, India was their opponent. South Africa hosted the Worldcup, Zimbabwe & Kenya combined. Australia was playing under the captainship of Ricky Ponting, and the Indian team was headed by Saurav Ganguly, also known as Dada.

Australia, while batting first, sets a huge target for India; they made 359 runs in 50 overs by losing just two wickets. Captain Ricky Ponting scored 140* runs in 121 balls and was awarded Player of the match. India failed to chase the target and scored only 234 runs in 39.2 overs by losing all the wickets. And that's how Australia became the world champion for the third time by defeating India.

Again in 2007, Australia was in the finals. The opponent was Srilanka. Australia won the match by 53 runs and won the World Cup for the fourth time. Rain also played an important role in winning the World Cup for Australia. The match started late because of the rain, and the total overs were reduced to 38 overs for Australia and 36 overs for Srilanka. Australia batted first and scored 281 runs in 38 overs by losing 4 wickets. Adam Gilchrist scored 149 runs in 104 balls and was awarded Player of the match for this performance. In the reply, Srilanka managed to score only 215 runs in 36 overs (which was reduced because of rain) by losing 8 wickets.

In 2015, Worldcup was hosted by Australia and Newzealand, and the interesting fact is that these two countries also played the final. Australia made history by winning their fifth World Cup, which is still the most by any country. In the final, Newzealand won the toss and decided to bat first. They did not play well and scored only 183 runs in 45 Overs by losing all the wickets. Grant Elliot scored the most runs for Newzealand which was 83 runs in 82 balls.

Australia achieved the target easily in just 33.1 Overs and scored 186 runs by losing 3 wickets. Australia proved why they are one of the strongest teams in cricket.

4. Pakistan

In 1992, the ICC world cup was hosted by Australia and Newzealand. Pakistan and England were in the final, and Pakistan won the toss and batted first. They scored 249 runs in 50 Overs by losing 6 wickets. Imran Khan was leading Pakistan's Team, and he scored 72 runs in 110 balls and helped Pakistan set a decent score.

In reply, England failed to chase the target and lost all wickets at the score of 227 only in 49.2 Overs. Wasim Akram bowled well and took 3 Wickets in his spell of 10 overs. Wasim Akram was chosen Player of the match for his performance in the final. Graham Gooch was the captain of the England Team. England lost the match, and Pakistan lifted their first-ever Worldcup. Because of this win, Imran Khan is loved by Pakistan's fans; he later became Pakistan's Prime Minister. Pakistan became the fourth Worldcup Champion by winning this game.

5. Srilanka

The year was 1996, and ICC Worldcup was hosted jointly by India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka. Australia was in the final once again and was dreaming of lifting the Worldcup by winning the game against Srilanka. The match was played in Pakistan. Srilanka won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Srilankan team was headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, who impressed everyone just by his batting and captaincy but by his bowling also. While batting first, Australia scored 241 runs in 50 overs by losing 7 wickets.

In reply, Srilankan Team achieved the target easily, scored 245 runs in just 46.2 overs, and won the match by 8 wickets. Aravinda de Silva of Sri Lanka played a great knock in the final and scored 107 runs in 124 balls. He was awarded Player of the match for this performance. That's how Sri Lanka became the fifth World Champion by winning this match.

6. England

Even after playing finals three times before, England was still searching for their first Worldcup. The year was 2019, and England was hosting the ICC Worldcup this year. And they were in the final for the fourth time. Newzealand was the other team to reach in final. That final match is said to be one of the most dramatic and greatest matches in history. Newzealand won the toss and batted first. They scored 241 runs in 50 overs by losing 8 wickets. . In reply, England also scored 241 runs in 50 overs by losing all of their wickets. As the score was a tie, it was time for super over. What's interesting here is that Super over also resulted in a tie, and the Boundary count rule was applied. England won the match as the total number of boundaries they scored was 26 and Newzealand's boundaries were 17 only. That's how England lifted their first-ever Worldcup and became the world champion.

Conclusion

Cricket is a game in which the luck factor also plays a role, and we can see that in the 2019 ICC Worldcup final match. The dream of winning the Worldcup for their country is still a dream for some countries; some have won it more than once. Australia has always been in the dominating position in the cricket World Cup. Winning the Worldcup for five times is not everyone's cup of tea. The craze of cricket is going to last for a long. And now, everyone's waiting for the next WorldCup of 2023.

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