Journey of the Cricket World Cup 1992 to 2015

We are back to Australia and New Zealand in 2015 for the ICC Cricket World Cup. From the 1992 color clothing revolution to the post IPL era of cricket in 2011, the game has come a long way.

Here we bring to you compilation of moments, drama, action, fun and happiness/sorrow across the world cups from 1992 to 2011. Hope you'd enjoy this journey as you gear up for an amazing 2015 cricket world cup tournament with one question on everyone's mind,

"WHO WILL WIN THE CUP?"


Clips of Defining Moments. Drama. Action. Winners. Losers. History being made. 

The answer will come on 29th Mar 2015, the day of the final at the legendary MCG when the world champion will be crowned. Will India retain the trophy or a new champion will etch its name in the annals of cricket history? Time will tell....

Journey of the World Cups 1992 to 2011

1992
Hosts: Australia and New Zealand
Winners: Pakistan (bt. England)
Man of the Match: Wasim Akram
Man of the Tournament: Martin Crowe

1996
Hosts: India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
Winners: Sri Lanka (bt. Australia)
Man of the Match: Aravinda De Silva
Man of the Tournament: Sanath Jayasuriya

1999
Hosts: England
Winners: Australia (bt. Pakistan)
Man of the Match: Shane Warne
Man of the Tournament: Lance Kluesner

2003
Hosts: South Africa
Winners: Australia (bt. India)
Man of the Match: Ricky Ponting
Man of the Tournament: Sachin Tendulkar

2007
Hosts: West Indies
Winners: Australia (bt. Sri Lanka)
Man of the Match: Adam Gilchrist
Man of the Tournament: Matthew Hayden

2011
Hosts: India
Winners: India (bt. Sri Lanka)
Man of the Match: M S Dhoni
Man of the Tournament: Yuvraj Singh

2015
Hosts: Australia and New Zealand
Winners: WHO WILL WIN THE CUP?

Miandad vs More - The Kangaroo Leap

Defining Moments at ‪#ICCWorldCup‬

Miandad vs More and the kangaroo jumps!



This amazing incident from the 1992 World Cup marquee game between India and Pakistan is permanently etched in hearts of millions of cricket fans.

Miandad known for his antiques to provoke opposition players said something that riled up More.

He started mouthing from behind the stumps. This continued for a while until Miandad stopped the bowler (Sachin Tendulkar) and decided to have a word with More about it. 

Both exchanged words before complaining to the umpire about each other.

The very next ball ... Miandad plaeyed towards mid on, ran a bit but came back since Sachin had fielded and thrown the ball back to More. He was well inside but More still flicked the bails and appeared to appeal. This got Miandad annoyed and he did the now legendary "Kangaroo" jumps in kangaroo land (venue: Sydney Cricket Ground)

Absolutely hilarious to see but raised tension between the two teams on the night.

India went on to win the game comfortably. Miandad bowled by Javagal Srinath.

Pak v NZ (Semifinal, Auckland, World Cup 1992)

Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
A batting superstar has arrived .... 
Best way to describe this match.

Against all odds Pakistan managed to scrape through to the semi-finals of this edition's #WorldCup semifinals (Remember the 1 point they gained from the hopeless performance against England, 74 all out, allowed them to move ahead of Australia and West Indies). Their opposition? The deadly in-form team, New Zealand. Unbeaten until their last league game (ironically their only loss came at the hands of Pakistan).

Stage was set. Eden Park, Auckland all set to stage its first ever World Cup semifinal game. The home team buoyant and clear favorites going into this game. But, as they say ... take Pakistan team granted at your own peril as the #Kiwis were to soon find out.

On a sunny March morning and a jam-packed stadium, NZ captain #MarttinCrowe won the toss and elected to bat first. Runs on the board was the clear plan. #MarkGreatbatch and #JohnWright opened the innings. Greatbatch was is great form and had blasted oppositions into submission during the course of the tournament. Danger man truly. But, the Pak bowlers had done their homework brilliantly. They pinned him and Wright by cramping them for room and no width to free their arms. #AquibJaved and #WasimAkram were awesome in that first spell. Aquib castled Greatbatch on 17.

#MushtaqAhmed then took over and had Wright and #AndrewJones caught to reduce NZ to 87 for 3. This is when captain Crowe and #KenRutherford took charge. Slowly, they built the innings before unleashing a counter-attack on the Pak bowling. Crowe's brilliant run in the world cup continued. He scored a fluent 91 before being run-out in the end stages of their innings.



Rutherford's steady 50 and some late blows for the Kiwi tail enabled them to score a very competitive 262 for 7 in their stipulated 50 overs. Wasim was the pick of the bowlers with an effective 2 for 40.

More than enough, you'd think as a Kiwi fan then.
Considering Pak's fallibility chasing scores or Kiwi tactics during the world cup to keep shuffling bowlers quickly were all stacked against Pak. Will they pull it off or would this be an end to their on-off campaign?

Then drama. Captain Crowe who suffered cramps and dehydration wasn't fit to take field. A big blow considering his audacious tactics and skill captaincy had brought them this far. His deputy John Wright certainly wasn't an inspirational figure on the ground but had to lead his side.

#AmeerSohail and #RameezRaja opened the innings for Pakistan. As usual #DeepakPatel, the offie opened NZ's bowling. This move to open with a spinner had brought them huge success all throughout. The trend continued when he had Sohail caught by Jones.

Pak 30 for 1.

Captain Imran promoted himself at No.3 to show his men how to lead from the front. He and Rameez slowly pushed things along. Plan was clear. Build and hold wickets for a late onslaught. They added 54 before Rameez fell to #WillieWatson. That brought in the wily old fox #JavedMiandad to the crease. Both him and Imran took it forward by adding 50 runs before Imran fell to #ChrisHarris.

Pak 134 for 3.

However, all this build-up was leading to required run-rate blowing up. Something had to give in. To add to their woes, Mr. Dependendable, #SalimMalik fell cheaply to #GavinLarsen reducing Pak to 140 for 4. 

Will Javed pull off a miracle with youngsters to follow? or Kiwis choke them? 

What Auckland and rest of the world witnessed after that was sheer magic!

In walked a 22 year old tall and burly youngster #InzamamUlHaq
With Javed at the other end, he unleashed an extraordinary counter attack on the Kiwis. This type of audacious strokeplay and power was never seen before!

His breathtaking hitting stunned the Kiwis. They were clueless. They were bamboozled. 

Javed held his end and encouraged #Inzi (as he later popularly came to be known) to play one of the finest match winning innings of all time. His 37 ball 60 became part of cricket folklore.

But there was still some drama to come. Inzy was run out trying to steal a single. Wasim was castled by Watson raising Kiwi hopes yet again. It needed someone to put the finishing touches from either side. #MoinKhan did it for Pakistan. Again, with Javed's astute presence in the middle.

His massive six and couple of boundaries deflated the Kiwis and Pakistan romped home with an improbable win. Amazing scenes at the Eden Park as Pakistan team engulfed Moin and Javed. 

Heartbreak for the Kiwis and more so for Martin Crowe. A golden chance to reach the finals had been lost.

But, the game belonged to the gentle giant, Inzamam.
A superstar had arrived ... in style!

MOM: Inzamam Ul Haq

Watch highlights here....