Best team not to win the World Cup

[GIMH]

It is a shame, upsets do happen from time to time though.

The upsets were in both finals of those cups so stfu

 

[Dan]

India's 2003 team wasn't too bad (on paper at least) -- Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Nehra, Srinath and Harbhajan were all pretty handy ODI cricketers, and the two weak links, Mongia and Kaif, were hardly completely useless.

South Africa and Sri Lanka also looked pretty decent in that World Cup, once more only on paper.

 

[ankitj]

Yeah, 2003 India team was simply superb. No one could beat Australia those days. No shame in finishing second in that event.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Mohammad Kaif was a ****ing hero

 

[Contra]

Yeah the 2003 team was incredible, even better than the 2011 team imo where it was basically Zak + Yuvi who mainly carried our bowling attack. It was India's inability to handle pressure that was the big difference between us and Australia at the time. Dhoni really helped India learn how to handle pressure better, gonna miss him so bad once he decides to retire from limited overs =(

 

[weldone]

Shame none of those sides beat us to the final then isn't it

real shame

 

[Teja.]

2011 side was better. What was shameful was not that we lost v. Australia but we performed miserably under the pressure of the occasion. First, getting bowled out for 125 and then choking miserably right from the first over in the WC final. We didn't really play like we thought we had a chance to compete.

 

[marc71178]

real shame

Since you have such a chip on your shoulder about England, why the **** did you move over here?

 

[OverratedSanity]

2011 side was better. What was shameful was not that we lost v. Australia but we performed miserably under the pressure of the occasion. First, getting bowled out for 125 and then choking miserably right from the first over in the WC final. We didn't really play like we thought we had a chance to compete.

Yeah clear choke under the pressure of a big game.Was kinda similar to what SA did in the 07 final. In our case, it was the bowlers who tried to be ultra aggressive for no reason instead of playing normally. Zaheer for some reason looked as though he was trying to bowl 150kph bouncers every ball and sprayed it everywhere.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah the 2003 team was incredible, even better than the 2011 team imo where it was basically Zak + Yuvi who mainly carried our bowling attack. It was India's inability to handle pressure that was the big difference between us and Australia at the time. Dhoni really helped India learn how to handle pressure better, gonna miss him so bad once he decides to retire from limited overs =(

Hmm, reckon you're underselling Munaf tbh... I remember him doing a pretty good job through most of the 2011 WC. Even Nehra stood up in a couple of the big games. Sreesanth was the only real dud. WAC.

 

[smash84]

That 1999 Pakistan team was a pretty good team too

Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Inzamam, Saqlain, Waqar, Shoaib, Wasim, Azhar Mahmood, Abdur Razzaq

 

[Sarun]

Picked 1999 SA.

And surely 1999 Pakistan should make the poll over 1987 & 1992 England.

 

[Contra]

Hmm, reckon you're underselling Munaf tbh... I remember him doing a pretty good job through most of the 2011 WC. Even Nehra stood up in a couple of the big games. Sreesanth was the only real dud. WAC.

They stood up but our 2011 bowling attack was still mainly carried on Zaheer and Yuvraj, Zaheer provided the key wickets in each game. In comparison to the 2003 WC where our 3 pacers collectively clicked, check out the averages:

Cricket Records | Records | ICC World Cup, 2002/03 | Most wickets | ESPN Cricinfo

Now I want to point out that in the 2 games against Australia in that tournament none of our pacers took any wickets! So imagine those stats - 100 or so runs for both Srinath and Zak, and 60 or so runs off Nehra! We were completely owned by Australia in that tournament as they were simply the better team, but otherwise our bowling attack was seriously gun.

 

[Salamuddin]

They stood up but our 2011 bowling attack was still mainly carried on Zaheer and Yuvraj, Zaheer provided the key wickets in each game. In comparison to the 2003 WC where our 3 pacers collectively clicked, check out the averages:

Cricket Records | Records | ICC World Cup, 2002/03 | Most wickets | ESPN Cricinfo

Now I want to point out that in the 2 games against Australia in that tournament none of our pacers took any wickets! So imagine those stats - 100 or so runs for both Srinath and Zak, and 60 or so runs off Nehra! We were completely owned by Australia in that tournament as they were simply the better team, but otherwise our bowling attack was seriously gun.

Yep India in 2003 were a very good team.Just got bettered by an Aussie ODI side that was arguably the best ever in the history of ODI cricket.
India won the Natwest trophy in 2002 and then were joint winners of the Champions Trophy later that year ~ thay had a fairly decent side at that point.

For me the answer to this question is easily Windies 1983 - truth is India fluked that win.
India were much more worthy winners in 2011.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Can't really call the 83 win a fluke that easily because India beat West Indies in that tournament in the group stage too.

 

[G.I.Joe]

AWTOS.

India and WI played each other thrice in that World Cup, India winning 2-1. Thats the closest we've come to a best of three finals in a World Cup.

We we were definitely not as good a team as the WI, but the tournament win by itself was not a fluke. One win can be a fluke; two wins in the same tournament cannot be so.

 

[Jono]

Mohammad Kaif was a ****ing hero

is*

 

[Salamuddin]

AWTOS.

India and WI played each other thrice in that World Cup, India winning 2-1. Thats the closest we've come to a best of three finals in a World Cup.

We we were definitely not as good a team as the WI, but the tournament win by itself was not a fluke. One win can be a fluke; two wins in the same tournament cannot be so.

It was a fluke because the Windies simply had an off day in the final.

There is no doubt that the Windies were a far superior team as they amply demonstrated when they toured India later in 1983 and hammered India 5-0.

 

[Flem274*]

it's almost like cricket is played on a field and not paper

 

[Burgey]

The current NZ team