The Best XI that never won the World Cup

Any player who plays cricket at the highest level would dream of getting his hands on the World Cup at least once. While some players were lucky enough to win the tournament multiple times, some had to wait for several years to fulfil this long-cherished dream. But at the same time, there are also some cricketers who could never get there in the span of their career.

Despite being absolute legends of the game, they weren’t fortunate enough to go the distance. Some of these players almost got there but couldn’t pass the final hurdle. While there are many such cricketers, we’ve chosen what we think will be the Best XI that can be formed keeping various combinations and balance of the team in mind. In the process, a few players had to be ignored as they didn’t fit into the scheme of things well.

Here is the Best XI of cricketers who never won the World Cup:

1. Sourav Ganguly (c) | India

Sourav Ganguly took over the reins of the Indian team during the crisis period when the side was surrounded by match-fixing allegations. He is known to be someone who always backed him players despite all the odds. The ‘God on the off-side’ was the captain of the Indian team when the side made it into the final of World Cup 2003.

The left-hander was at the peak of his powers at that point in time. With Sachin Tendulkar showing the way to the other players, the team entered the final. However, the team fell short in the final and couldn’t defeat Australia. Ganguly has got a very good record while playing in the World Cup and has scored over 1,000 runs in the tournament. He also registered his highest score of 183 in a World Cup game. The Bengal Tiger slammed three centuries in the 2003 tournament alone.

Matches: 21 | Innings: 21 | Runs: 1006 | HS: 183 | Average: 55.88 | 100s: 4 | 50s: 3

2. Graham Gooch | England

Cricket is a team sport and no matter how brilliant an individual is, he can never win you tournaments single-handedly. England’s Graham Gooch is a classic example for the above line. He has done everything possible to help his team lift the World Cup couldn’t fulfil his long-cherished dream. In his career, Gooch played three World Cup finals only to end up with a massive disappointment in each of the three occasions.

The legendary cricketer, who played for nearly 19 years between 1976 and 1995 holds the record for highest List A runs by any player. His tally of 22,221 runs is still the most by any batsman. Gooch’s century against India in the World Cup 1987 in the semi-final is considered to be one of the greatest knocks for England in the World Cup. Since he’s tried so hard on several occasions, he manages to find an edge over Tillakaratne Dilshan in the Best XI.

Matches: 21 | Innings: 21 | Runs: 897 | HS: 115 | Average: 44.85 | 100s: 1 | 50s: 8

3. Rahul Dravid | India

Often known as ‘The Wall’, Rahul Dravid‘s Test match heroics overshadow his exploits in ODI cricket. The former Indian skipper was one of the most hardworking and had to fight hard to earn his place in the limited-overs team. And when the chances came his way, he ensured that he made the most of them and was one of the pillars of the ODI team for a long time.

With 344 ODIs and 10,889 runs under his belt, the only thing Rahul Dravid couldn’t do was winning a World Cup. As the cliched saying goes, it isn’t Dravid who didn’t deserve the World Cup but it is the World Cup which didn’t deserve the Karnataka cricketer. During his career, Dravid played three World Cups and came the closest in 2003 where the team reached the final.

Matches: 22 | Innings: 21 | Runs: 860 | HS: 145 | Average: 61.42 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 6

4. Brian Lara | Windies

While the standards of Windies cricket slumped at a great pace towards the end of the ’90s and early ’00s, it was Brian Lara who almost single-handedly pulled the team through. He was unfortunate to have played during an era when the long domination of his team almost came to an end. Lara played 299 ODIs in his career and scored 10,405 runs. While he is famous for his records in Test cricket, he was no slouch in one-day cricket either.

He played with the same dominative style in white ball cricket as well giving several headaches to the bowlers. From 1992 to 2007, Lara was a part of several World Cup squads. He is amongst the top-five leading run scorers in the history of the tournament. But the two-time champions, West Indies, could never get their hands on the trophy when he was around.

Matches: 34 | Innings: 33 | Runs: 1225 | HS: 116 | Average: 42.24 | 100s: 2 | 50s: 7

5. Kumar Sangakkara (wk) | Sri Lanka

In his career that spanned close to 15 years, Kumar Sangakkara represented Sri Lanka in nearly 600 international games. A veteran of 404 ODIs, he is possibly one of the greatest cricketers to have represented Sri Lanka. An astute thinker, Sangakkara was at the helm when Sri Lanka made it to the final of World Cup 2011. But, his side only managed to finish second in the tournament.

That was possibly Sri Lanka’s best chance to win their second World Cup. He has done everything he possibly could to help his team get to the finishing line. In four tournaments that he was a part of, Sangakkara scored 1,532 runs at an average of 56.74. The four consecutive centuries that he scored in World Cup 2015 still remains to be one of the biggest highlights of the tournament but is really unpropitious to not have got his hands on the trophy. Amongst the players who couldn’t win a World Cup, he has got the highest number of runs.

Matches: 37 | Innings: 35 | Runs: 1532 | HS: 124 | Average: 56.74 | 100s: 5 | 50s: 7

6. Jacques Kallis | South Africa

Perhaps, Jacques Kallis is the greatest all-rounder to have ever played the sport. At the peak of his career, he was the ICC No.1 batsman in Tests as well as ODIs. His numbers are nothing less than jaw-dropping and he is the only man to have scored more than 10,000 runs and picked more than 250 wickets in both ODIs and Tests. Kallis represented the Proteas in 328 ODIs and scored 11,579 runs at an average of 44.36.

However, it is a pity that a cricketer like him couldn’t get his hands on the World Cup. The maestro took part in the different editions of these tournaments between 1996 and 2011. He scored more than 1,000 runs in the tournament and is amongst the highest run-scorers in the history of the tournament.

Matches: 36 | Innings: 32 | Runs: 1148 | HS: 128* | Average: 45.92 | 100s: 1 | 50s: 9 | Wickets: 21 | Economy: 4.28

7. AB de Villiers | South Africa

AB de Villiers is another cricketer who couldn’t fulfil his dream of getting his hands on the World Cup. The Proteas legend retired from all forms of international cricket at a very young age of 34. Even though he didn’t play as many games as some of the other players amongst the leading run-scorers, he still has managed to score a lot of runs. In 2007, 2011 and 2015 editions of the tournament, he made a significant impact in the tournament.

However, he is one of those many South African cricketers who were unfortunate not to have got his hands on the coveted trophy. Although ABD had an opportunity to give himself another chance by playing the World Cup 2019, he didn’t opt to do so. He announced his retirement in 2018, nearly one year prior to the 2019 edition of the tournament.

Matches: 23 | Innings: 22 | Runs: 1207 | HS: 162* | Average: 63.52 | 100s: 4 | 50s: 6

8. Shahid Afridi | Pakistan

For the spinner in these eleven, there were several options. New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori, India’s Anil Kumble amongst many others were all great. But this is a proper playing eleven and there are several dynamics that are to be considered. Shahid Afridi adds a great depth to this batting line-up. With him batting at number eight, there is a great balance to this side.

Moreover, there are many batsmen in this team who don’t score at the best of strike rates. Thus, there could be times where a big hitter could be the need of the hour. In such scenarios, Afridi can be used as the floater in the line-up. More than with the bat, he did better with the ball while playing in the World Cup. Hence, he is picked as the lone spinner in this side.

Matches: 27 | Innings: 24 | Wickets: 30 | BBI: 5/16 | Average: 27.70 | Economy: 4.51 | 5w: 2

9. Allan Donald | South Africa

Nicknamed ‘the white lightning’, Allan Donald was one of the most feared fast bowlers of his era. He was aggressive, fast and an absolute crowd puller. Donald made his debut in 1991 and had a 12-year-long career. The pacer picked up 272 ODI wickets in his career and was excellent with his economy. His average and strike rate were equally good making him one of the best fast bowlers of his times.

Donald was unstoppable in the ’92 World Cup and arguably the fastest that tournament. Just like many other South African greats, he always gave more than a hundred per cent while playing the World Cup. But the fortunes were not in his favour, like many of his teammates which finds him a place in this eleven.

Matches: 27 | Innings: 24 | Wickets: 30 | BBI: 5/16 | Average: 27.70 | Economy: 4.51 | 5w: 2

10. Lasith Malinga | Sri Lanka

Lasith Malinga is another workhorse who has tried his level best to help Sri Lanka win the World Cup. Possibly one of the best bowlers of the yorker, Slinga has contributed immensely to Sri Lankan cricket. During the course of his career, he battled several injuries and always tried to give his best for his team. Malinga has been a part of four World Cup squads thus far.

The legendary fast bowler played two finals – in 2007 and 2011. In both the games, he picked up two wickets and placed his side in a good position. However, he was unlucky in both instances. Even though he has got another chance of lifting the title in 2019, it seems highly unlikely looking at the fast-dipping standards of Sri Lankan cricket.

Matches: 23 | Innings: 22 | Wickets: 43 | BBI: 6/38 | Average: 22.18 | Economy: 5.43 | 5w: 1

11. Javagal Srinath | India

Javagal Srinath was one of the fastest bowlers for India during his initial playing days. If not for injuries, he had the potential to achieve a lot more. In 229 ODIs, Srinath picked up 315 wickets at an average of 28.09. The Karnataka pacer played in three World Cups – 1992, 1996 and 1999 before he announced his retirement in 2002. But, he was pursued by then skipper Sourav Ganguly to extend his career at least until the end of World Cup 2003.

He accepted the proposal and had an excellent run in the tournament. Srinath formed a formidable pair with Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra guiding the team through to the final. However, the nerves got the better of him in the big game where he ended up conceding 87 runs in 10 overs and was prompt to announce his retirement soon after the tournament concluded. He is the joint-highest wicket-taker for India at the World Cup.

Matches: 34 | Innings: 33 | Wickets: 44 | BBI: 4/30 | Average: 27.81 | Economy: 4.32 | 5w: 0