The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 is currently being played in India. There will be a total of 48 matches in which 10 teams will compete in the tournament.
Let’s take a look at the history of cricket world cup from its origin.
The 1975 World Cup:
In 1975, the first ODI world cup took place in England. One day cricket was a 60-overs game at that time. Eight countries including England, New Zealand, India, East Africa, Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka participated in the event. This World Cup was based on Round-Robin Format in which there were two groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group qualified for the semi-finals, the winners then competed in the final.
West Indies won the very first WC by 17 runs while Australia was the runner-up. Clive Lloyd was declared Player of the final. Pakistan only managed to win one of its group matches against Sri Lanka and lost the other two to West Indies and Australia.
The 1979 World Cup:
The 1979 World Cup was again hosted by England. The format of this WC was the same as of 1975. Pakistan lost to West Indies in the semis. West Indies and England were the finalists. This tournament was again won by West Indies, who defeated England by 92 runs in the final. Sir Vivian Richards was awarded Player of the Match.
The 1983 World Cup:
For the third time in a row, England hosted the event in 1983. Pakistan once again were defeated by West Indies in semi-final. This WC followed the Double Round Robin. In this format, each team played against the other in their group twice and top two from each group qualified for the semi-finals.
Disrupting the streak of two times champions West Indies, India won their first world cup by 43 runs. Mohinder Amarnath was crowned Man of the final. All three finals from 1975 to 1983 were played at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
The 1987 World Cup:
The 1987 world cup was jointly hosted by India and Pakistan, marking the first time it was held outside of England. Format of the tournament remained the same as 1983 but the number of overs per innings were reduced from 60 to 50, which continues to this day. In-total 8 teams participated in the tournament. Pakistan was knocked out by Australia in the semi-final. Australia won its very first world cup at Eden Gardens in Kolkata by defeating England by only seven runs. David Boon was awarded Player of the Match.
The 1992 World Cup:
Just like 1987, the 1992 world cup was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. Nine teams participated in the tournament while South Africa made their World Cup debut. Each team played against every other team in a league format. The top four teams qualified for the semi-finals. Pakistan lifted the trophy by defeating three-time runner-up England by 22 runs. The final was played at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Martin Crowe was declared Man of the Series and Wasim Akram was the Player of the finals. Interestingly, it was the first WC to feature colored kits and white ball.
The 1996 World Cup:
Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka mutually hosted the 1996 World Cup. Twelve teams participated, including three new teams; UAE, Kenya and Netherlands. Pakistan was defeated by India in the Quarter-finals. It followed the round robin format with two groups of 6 teams each. Teams that finished in the top four of their respective groups advanced to the quarter-finals, and then to the semi-finals before reaching the final.
The champions of the tournament were Sri Lanka, who clinched victory by defeating Australia by seven wickets in the final at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. Sanath Jayasuriya was crowned as Man of the Series and Aravinda de Silva was player of the final.
The 1999 World Cup:
This world cup was hosted by England but not entirely as few matches were also scheduled in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and the Netherlands. This World Cup was held after three years from the previous one because of the scheduling cycle of other tournaments. Just like 1996, 12 teams participated in this event as well. They were divided into two groups and the top three from each group qualified for Super Six. Top four teams from super six qualified for semifinals followed by a final.
Australia emerged as the champions of the tournament for the second time by defeating Pakistan in the final by 8 wickets at Lord’s. Lance Klusener was the Man of the tournament, while Shane Warne was awarded Player of the final.
The 2003 World Cup:
In 2003 Cricket World Cup, fourteen teams participated, which was the highest number of teams to have ever played in the tournament at that time, Namibia made their first appearance in the World Cup. Tournament was co-hosted by South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe. Format of the WC was same as that of 1999.
Pakistan didn’t even manage to qualify for the semi-final as they only won 2 matches. Australia lifted the trophy for the third time by defeating India in the finals by 125 runs, which was played at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. Sachin Tendulkar was the man of the tournament while Ricky Ponting was declared Player of the final.
The 2007 World Cup:
West Indies hosted the event in 2007 for the first time. 16 teams participated in the tournament while Ireland and Bermuda made their debut entry. 16 teams were divided into 4 groups. Top two from each group qualified for the Super 8, which was then followed by semi-finals. Australia while sustaining the streak, won the world cup for the third consecutive time and fourth overall by defeating Sri Lanka in the final by 53 runs at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown. Man of the Series was awarded to Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist was the Man of the Match.
The 2011 World Cup:
This 10th world cup was hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka after ICC took over hosting rights from Pakistan due to security concerns. These concerns arose following the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan team in Lahore. And from here began the isolation era of hosting international events for Pakistan.
14 teams participated in the tournament, divided into two groups, top four teams in each group qualified for the quarter-finals. In the final, India defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets and won their second World Cup. The final was played at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
DRS and Super over was introduced in this World Cup for the first time to decide tied matches. For the second tournament in a row, Pakistan was unable to qualify out of the group stage. Yuvraj Singh was crowned as Player of the Series while Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the Man of the final.
The 2015 World Cup:
Australia and New Zealand together hosted the 2015 world cup. 14 teams participated in the event. There were two groups of seven teams in the league stage and the top four teams from each group advanced to the knockout round.
Pakistan lost to Australia in the quarter-final. The World Cup was won by Australia for the fifth time as they defeated New Zealand by seven wickets in the final held at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Man of the series was given to Mitchell Starc and James Faulkner was awarded as Man of the final.
The 2019 World Cup:
12th world cup was hosted by England and Wales. In this edition, the tournament had 10 teams competing teams instead of 14. This tournament was played under round-robin format.
Pakistan won 5 matches out of 9 but once again couldn’t make it to the semi-finals. England and New Zealand qualified for the final but both teams scored 241 runs in the final match, resulting in a tie. This led to the first Super Over in an ODI. Ultimately, England won the title for the first time, due to the boundary countback rule after the Super Over also ended in a tie. Kane Williamson was the Player of the tournament and Ben Stokes was crowned player of the final.
The 2023 World Cup:
This year’s world cup will be the 13th edition of Men’s Cricket World Cup. Ten Teams will take part in the tournament. This WC will have a format similar to the 2019 edition, consisting of a round-robin phase followed by the knockout rounds.
