ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Things to know about past winners and losers

As 10 best teams in world cricket prepare to meet for the world's biggest cricketing extravaganza, we take you down memory lane to look at the winners and losers of past cricket world cups

The 12th edition of one-day international (ODI) cricket world cup — ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 — is scheduled to start from May 30, with hosts England taking on South Africa at London’s The Oval in the inaugural match. The world’s biggest limited-overs cricket tournament will this time see 10 teams — Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa, England, Windies, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and New Zealand — battling it out for the trophy. 

Cricket has changed a lot since 1975, when the International Cricket Council (ICC) started this marquee event, and so have the formats and playing conditions.

As the 10 best teams of today prepare to lock horns in the greatest cricketing extravaganza, we take down memory lane to look at the winners and losers of the 11 past ICC Cricket World Cups

 
ICC World CUP 1975

ICC Cricket World Cup 1975, the first edition of the tournament, was also the first major limited-overs international cricket tournament. Held from June 7 to 27 in England, the tournament had eight participating teams, including the six test-playing nations of the time — Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and West Indies. The two associate teams were Sri Lanka and East Africa. The ODIs in those days had 60 overs to bowl for either team in a match. The teams were divided into two groups of four each, with each team playing the other teams in its group once in the league stage. The top two from each group qualified for the semi-finals.
 
India in 1975 cricket world cup

In the 1975 world cup, the Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan-led Indian national cricket team was placed in group A, along with England, East Africa and New Zealand. India’s first world cup match is remembered for a bizzare display of batting by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. After England scored 334/4 in 60 overs, Gavaskar batted through full 60 overs and remained unbeaten at 36, even as India managed to score only 132 for 3 and losing the match by 202 runs. With 37 runs off 59 balls, Gundappa Viswanath was the top-scorer for India.
 
1975 world cup final

England, New Zealand, West Indies and Australia were the teams that qualified for the semi-finals, making this the only World Cup in which no team from the Indian subcontinent made it to the semis. Australia defeated England and West Indies beat New Zealand in the semis. In the 1975 world cup final, West Indies, led by Clive Llyod, scored 291-8 in 60 overs, with skipper scoring 102 off 85 balls, and defeated Ian Chappell’s Australia by 17 runs at Lord’s cricket ground in London on June 21.

ICC World Cup 1975 final details
Toss	Australia , elected to field first
Australia playing 11	reg Chappell, Ian Chappell (c), Rod Marsh (wk), Doug Walters, Ross Edwards, Dennis Lillee, Gary Gilmour, Max Walker, Jeff Thomson, Rick McCosker, Alan Turner
West Indies playing 11	Keith Boyce, Roy Fredericks, Vanburn Holder, Bernard Julien, Alvin Kallicharran, Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd (c), Deryck Murray (wk), Sir Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Gordon Greenidge
Player of the match	Clive Lloyd
Umpires	Dickie Bird , Tom Spencer

 
ICC World Cup 1979
 
ICC World Cup 1979, the second edition of the cricket world cup, was again hosted by England (from June 9 to 23) and won by West Indies. The format remained unchanged, with eight teams participating. These were England, India, Australia, Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Canada. The eight teams were divided into two groups and top two teams from each group made it to the semi-finals. There was no team from Africa in the 1979 world cup, as East Africa failed to qualify for the tournament.
 
India in 1979 world cup

Venkataraghavan’s Indian team were placed in Group B this time, along with West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. India had a dismal performance in 1975 world cup, as they lost all their matches of the league stage and were beaten even by the minnow Sri Lanka.
 
1979 world cup final

After the league games, Pakistan, England, New Zealand and West Indies made it to the semi-finals. England defeated New Zealand in a very close fight by 9 runs, while West Indies beat Pakistan by 43 runs in the second semifinal. In the 1979 cricket world cup final, Clive Llyod’s West Indies scored 286 for 9, with Vivan Richards scoring a magnificent 138 runs off 157 balls. In reply, Mike Brearley-led England managed to score only 194. West Indies won their second world cup in a row.
 

ICC World Cup 1979 final details
Toss	England , elected to field first
England playing 11	Geoff Boycott, Bob Taylor (wk), Chris Old, Mike Hendrick, Graham Gooch, Phil Edmonds, Mike Brearley (c), Derek Randall, Sir Ian Botham, David Gower, Wayne Larkins
West Indies playing 11	Alvin Kallicharran, Clive Lloyd (c), Deryck Murray (wk), Sir Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Gordon Greenidge, Michael Holding, Collis King, Colin Croft, Joel Garner, Desmond Haynes
Player of the match	Sir Vivian Richards
Umpires	Barrie Meyer, Dickie Bird

 
ICC World Cup 1983
 
ICC World Cup 1983 was again hosted by England (from June 9 to 25). The format of the 1983 World Cup had eight teams divided into two groups of four each. During the league stage, a team played every other in its group twice. The top two teams from each group then advanced to the semifinals. Zimbabwe made its first appearance at a world cup, as Canada failed to qualify. The other seven teams were the same as those in 1975 world cup. The 1983 World Cup was full with some dramatic cricket, with underdogs like India and Zimbabwe upsetting biggies West Indies and Australia, respectively.
 
India in 1983 World Cup

Led by Kapil Dev, the Indian cricket team was placed in Group B, along with West Indies, Australia and Zimbabwe. India finished second in their group, with 16 points, while West Indies topped. India saw some brilliant batting performance, with Dev going on to score 175 against Zimbabwe in the most crucial knock for India’s qualification in semis.
 
1983 World Cup final
 
England, India, Pakistan and West Indies made it to the 1983 world cup semifinal. In the first semi-final India (217-4) defeated England (213-10) on June 22 at Old Trafford in Manchester. West Indies (188-2) crushed Pakistan in the second semifinal, chasing the target of 185 in just 48.4 overs. Underdogs India made it to the finals and defeated the mighty West Indians at Lords Cricket Ground in London by 43 runs. In the 1983 world cup finals, India managed to score only 183 runs but with a brilliant bowling effort bundled out West Indies for 140. And thus began the Indian cricket team’s new journey in the cricketing world.

ICC World Cup 1983 final details
Toss	West Indies , elected to field first
India playing 11	Sunil Gavaskar, Madan Lal, Mohinder Amarnath, Syed Kirmani (wk), Kapil Dev (c), Yashpal Sharma, Kirti Azad, Roger Binny, Sandeep Patil, Kris Srikkanth, Balwinder Sandhu
West Indies playing 11	Clive Lloyd (c), Sir Viv Richards, Andy Roberts, Gordon Greenidge, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Faoud Bacchus, Desmond Haynes, Larry Gomes, Malcolm Marshall, Jeff Dujon (wk)
Player of the match	Mohinder Amarnath
Umpires	Barrie Meyer, Dickie Bird

 
ICC cricket World Cup 1987
 
The fourth edition of ICC cricket World Cup was hosted jointly by India and Pakistan from October 8 to November 8. From 1987 World Cup the number overs in each innings of a match was reduced from 60 to 50; the format of the game remained otherwise unchanged from 1983. All the eight teams that qualified in 1987 were the same as 1983.
 
India in cricket world cup 1987
 
The Indian cricket team, again led by Kapil Dev, was placed in Group A, along with Australia, New Zealand and Zimbabwe. India qualified for the semis, finishing at the top in the group with 20 points, having won five of its six matches at the group stage.
 
1987 world cup final
 
India, Pakistan, England and Australia made it to the semifinals. Australia (267-6) defeated Pakistan (249) in the first semifinal, while England (254-6) beat India (219) in the second semifinal. In the 1983 world cup final, Allan Border’s Australia (253-5) defeated Mike Gatting’s England (246-8) to lift the world cup.
 

ICC World Cup 1987 final details
Toss	Australia won the toss and opt to bat
Australia playing 11	Allan Border (c), Dean Jones, David Boon, Craig McDermott, Simon ODonnell, Bruce Reid, Steve Waugh, Geoff Marsh, Greg Dyer (wk), Mike Veletta, Tim May
England playing 11	Graham Gooch, Mike Gatting (c), John Emburey, Bill Athey, Paul Downton (wk), Allan Lamb, Eddie Hemmings, Neil Foster, Tim Robinson, Gladstone Small, Phil DeFreitas
Player of the match	David Boon
Umpires	Mahboob Shah, Ram Gupta

 
ICC World Cup 1992
 
ICC World Cup 1992, the fifth edition of the cricket world cup, was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand from February 22 to March 25. For the first time, coloured clothing, white balls, black sightscreens and matches under flood lights were played in ICC cricket World Cup 1992. In late 1991, South Africa were re-admitted to the International Cricket Council after 21 years of exclusion over apartheid and became the ninth team in the tournament. The other eight were Australia, West Indies, India, Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and associate member Zimbabwe. The format was changed from previous tournaments and now each team had to play with the other 8 once each; the top two teams on the points qualified for the semis.

India in 1992 world cup
 
The Indian national cricket team, now led by Mohammad Azharuddin, made a dismal performance, finishing seventh on the points table, with two wins and five losses
 
1992 cricket world cup final

New Zealand, England, Pakistan and South Africa qualified for the semi-finals. In the first semis, Pakistan (264-9) defeated New Zealand (262-7) while England (252-6) beat South Africa (232-6) in a rain-affected match. In the 1992 World Cup final, Imran Khan’s Pakistan defeated Graham Gooch’s England by 22 runs to lift the trophy.
 

ICC World Cup 1992 final details
Toss	Pakistan won the toss and opt to bat
Pakistan playing 11	Inzamam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan (c), Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja, Ijaz Ahmed, Aaqib Javed, Mushtaq Ahmed, Moin Khan (wk), Aamer Sohail
England playing 11	Graham Gooch (c), Sir Ian Botham, Allan Lamb, Derek Pringle, Phil DeFreitas, Neil Fairbrother, Alec Stewart (wk), Chris Lewis, Graeme Hick, Richard Illingworth, Dermot Reeve
Player of the match	Wasim Akram
Umpires	Steve Bucknor, Brian Aldridge

 
 
ICC World Cup 1996
 
The ICC World Cup 1996 was jointly hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka from February 14 to March 17. In 1996, the number of participating countries increased to 12, with nine full members — Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe — and Kenya, Netherlands and United Arab Emirates as three associate countries. The 12 teams were divided into two groups, with 6 teams in each. The top 4 teams from both groups qualified to the Quarter finals.
 
India in 1996 world cup
 
Mohammad Azharuddin’s India cricket team was placed in group A, where it finished third with six points, winning 3 of 5 matches. In the quarterfinals, India defeated Pakistan by 39 runs and made it to the semifinals.
 
1996 world cup final
 
India, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Australia won their respective quarterfinal fixtures and made it to the semis. Sri Lanka (251-8) crushed India (120-8) in the first semifinal and stormed into finals, while Australia (207-8) defeated West Indies (202) in the second semifinal. In the 1996 World Cup final, Arjuna Ranatunga's Sri Lanka (245-3) defeated Australia (241-7) by 7 wickets to win their maiden ICC World Cup title.
 

ICC World Cup 1996 final details
Toss	Sri Lanka won the toss and opt to bowl
Australia playing 11	Ricky Ponting, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, Ian Healy (wk), Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor (c), Paul Reiffel, Damien Fleming, Michael Bevan, Stuart Law
Sri Lanka playing 11	Sanath Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Arjuna Ranatunga (c), Aravinda de Silva, Asanka Gurusinha, Roshan Mahanama, Hashan Tillakaratne, Romesh Kaluwitharana (wk), Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Kumar Dharmasena
Player of the match	Aravinda de Silva
Umpires	Steve Bucknor, David Shepherd

 
ICC World Cup 1999

ICC World Cup 1999, the seventh edition of the cricket world cup, was hosted primarily by England, while some games were also played in Scotland, Wales and the Netherlands. The tournament featured 12 teams — Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Kenya and Scotland. At the group stage, the teams were divided into two groups of six each. A team played the other five in its group once each. The top three teams from each group advanced to the Super Sixes, a new concept introduced in the 1999 World Cup. Each team carried forward the points from the games against the other qualifiers from its group and then played each of the qualifiers from the other group. The top four teams in the Super Sixes advanced to the semi-finals.
 
India in 1999 world cup

The Azharuddin-led India cricket team finished the league stage ranked second on the points table in its group, but failed to carry forward any points in super sixes. In the super sixes round, India defeated Pakistan but failed to win the remaining 5 matches and finished last.
 
1999 world cup final
 
After the Super Sixes round, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand made it to the semi-finals. In the first semis, Pakistan (242-1) defeated New Zealand (241-7) while in the second semifinal Australia (213) was tied with South Africa (213) in what is regarded as a greatest cricketing contest in the history of World Cups. Australia advanced to the final as it had defeated the Proteas previously in the tournament. In the 1999 cricket world cup final, Australia (133-2) outclassed Pakistan (133) to win the title.

ICC World Cup 1999 final details
Toss	Pakistan won the toss and opt to bat
Australia playing 11	Adam Gilchrist (wk), Ricky Ponting, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Darren Lehmann, Steve Waugh (c), Tom Moody, Mark Waugh, Paul Reiffel, Damien Fleming, Michael Bevan
Pakistan playing 11	Shoaib Akhtar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram (c), Ijaz Ahmed, Saeed Anwar, Moin Khan (wk), Saqlain Mushtaq, Wajahatullah Wasti
Player of the match	Shane Warne
Umpires	Steve Bucknor, David Shepherd

 
ICC World Cup 2003
 
ICC world Cup 2003 was hosted jointly by Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa from February 9 to March 23. This was the first world cup being played in Africa. The tournament featured 14 teams — 10 full member nations and four associate members. ICC cricket world cup 2003 followed the same format that had been introduced in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, with the teams divided into two groups, and the top three in each qualifying for the Super Sixes stage.
 
India in 2003 cricket world cup
 
The Indian cricket team, now led by Sourav Ganguly, was placed in group A. It finished second in the group with five wins and one loss. In the super sixes round, India finished second, with a win in all three matches.
 
2003 cricket world cup final
 
After the super sixes round, India, Kenya, Australia and Sri Lanka advanced to the semifinal. In the first semifinals, India (270-4) defeated Kenya (179-10), while Australia beat Sri Lanka in the second. India had to suffer a heartbreak in the final against mighty Australia, which went on pile a record 359. When put to bat, India was able to score only 234-10.

ICC World Cup 2003 final details
Toss	India won the toss and opt to bowl
Australia playing 11	Adam Gilchrist (wk), Ricky Ponting (c), Andrew Symonds, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Damien Martyn, Brad Hogg, Matthew Hayden, Darren Lehmann, Michael Bevan, Andy Bichel
India playing 11	Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (wk), Sourav Ganguly (c), Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Ashish Nehra, Javagal Srinath
Player of the match	Ricky Ponting
Umpires	Steve Bucknor, David Shepherd

 
ICC World Cup 2007
 
ICC World Cup 2007, the ninth edition of the cricket world cup, was hosted by Caribbean Islands from March 13 to April 28. The 16 competing teams were initially divided into four groups, with the two best-performing teams from each group moving on to a "Super 8" stage.
 
India in 2007 world cup
 
Rahul Dravid’s Indian cricket team had an awful world cup in 2007. It failed to beat Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the group stage and was knocked out of the tournament early.
 
2007 world cup finals
 

After the completion of the super 8 stage, Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and South Africa advanced to the semis. In the first semifinal, Sri Lanka (289-5) defeated New Zealand (208), while in the second Australia (153-3) demolished South Africa (149) by 7 wickets. In the 2007 world cup final, Australia (281-4) defeated Sri Lanka (215-8) by 53 runs (D/L method) in a rain-affected match to lift the trophy.

 

ICC World Cup 2007 final details
Toss	Australia won the toss and opt to bat
Australia playing 11	Adam Gilchrist (wk), Ricky Ponting (c), Andrew Symonds, Glenn McGrath, Michael Clarke, Brad Hogg, Matthew Hayden, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Nathan Bracken, Michael Hussey
Sri Lanka playing 11	Mahela Jayawardene (c), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Russel Arnold, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Silva
Player of the match	Adam Gilchrist
Umpires	Steve Bucknor, Aleem Dar

 
ICC World Cup 2011
 
The 2011 ICC World Cup was hosted jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Fourteen national cricket teams participated — 10 full members and four associate members of the ICC. The first round of the tournament consisted of two groups of seven teams each. A team played all the others in its group once, and the top four from each group qualified for the quarter-finals. This ensured that every team played at least six matches.
 
India in 2011 World Cup
 
The Indian cricket team under the captaincy of MS Dhoni became the first team to win the coveted tournament after a dismal performance in the previous edition.
 
2011 world cup final
 
After the completion of the league stage, four teams each from the two groups made it to the quarterfinals. India defeated Australia in the quarterfinals to advance to the semis, where it again defeated arch-rival Pakistan. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, defeated England in the quarters and overcome the New Zealand challenge in the semis to meet India at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. This was the first time in the World Cup history that two Asian teams were appearing in the final. It was also the first time since the 1992 World Cup that the final match was not featuring Australia. In the 2011 cricket world cup, India went on to defeat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets, with captain Dhoni taking his team past the target with a magnificent six. This was the first time that the host of an ICC cricket world cup had gone on to win the tournament.
 

ICC World Cup 2011 final details
Toss	Sri Lanka won the toss and opt to bat
India playing 11	Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Virat Kohli
Sri Lanka playing 11	Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (c & wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Thilan Samaraweera, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suraj Randiv, Thisara Perera
Player of the match	MS Dhoni
Umpires	Simon Taufel , Aleem Dar

 
ICC World Cup 2015
 
The 11th edition of ICC Cricket World Cup was jointly hosted by New Zealand and Australia from February 14 to March 29. The tournament featured 14 teams, the same number as in the 2011 edition, giving associate and affiliate member nations a chance to participate. The format was also the same as in 2011. On 29 January 2015, ICC reinstated the use of the Super Over for Cricket World Cup Final match if the match finished in a tie.
 
India in 2015 world cup

Defending champions India, led again by MS Dhoni, had an excellent start to the tournament. It defeated arch rival Pakistan and did not lose even a single game at the league stage. However, India was knocked out of the tournament in the semis after received a drubbing from Australia.
 
2015 world cup final
 
After league and quarterfinals matches, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and India qualified for the semis. In the first semifinal, New Zealand defeated South Africa, as Proteas choked again. Australia, meanwhile, handed a crushing defeat to defending champions India. In the 2015 world cup final, Australia chased down New Zealand’s 183 runs with ease and won the final by 7 wickets. With this, the Australia cricket team became the only in world cricket to have won the ICC world cup a record five times. This was the second time that one of the hosts had ended up as the champion of an ICC cricket world cup.

ICC World Cup 2015 final details
Toss	New Zealand won the toss and opt to bat
Australia playing 11	Michael Clarke (c), Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steven Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, James Faulkner
New Zealand playing 11	Brendon McCullum (c), Daniel Vettori, Ross Taylor, Tim Southee, Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi (wk), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Corey Anderson, Matt Henry
Player of the match	James Faulkner
Umpires	Kumar Dharmasena , Richard Kettleborough