The World Cup 211 is significant for Pakistan in an interesting way. The squad announced for the world cup has none of the players who were part of the 1992 Cup winning team, writes Muhammad Ali Madani.
Inzamam, who played a major role in the victory 19 years ago by playing two brisk innings in semi-final and final, retired at the end of 2007 World Cup.  The squad doesn’t even have anyone from the 1996 team that lost the quarter-final against India at Bangalore. Although Inzamam never really showed his class in world cups after 1992 (he scored at an unimpressive average of 23 in 35 world cup matches), his presence was always intimidating.
Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden, the Australian giants who kept their team at the top for about a decade, are also among the greats who were there in West Indies to play the 2007 competition, but are absent this time. The impact that these players had could be gauged from the following figures. Besides keeping wickets, Gilchrist made over a thousand runs in 31 world cup matches at an average of 36. Hayden scored close to one thousand runs in only 22 matches at an average of almost 52. Andrew Symonds is perhaps the only player to have a batting average of more than 100 among those who have played more than one world cup. With 71 wickets from 39 matches, McGrath remains the most successful bowler in world cups.
Their departure from the international cricket one after another has weakened the team that has won the last three world cups. This is why people many people expect a new world champion this time.
Like Pakistan’s, the Sri Lankan squad doesn’t have any of the players who won the 1996 world cup. Jayasuriya and Vaas were expecting to play, but selectors decided they are too old to continue. They were the ones along with Murali who transformed Sri Lanka from ‘babies’ to a world champion. Jayasuriya has played the highest number of matches for Sri Lanka in world cups from 1992 to 2007. He is also the highest run scorer for them in world cups with over 1100 runs. Vaas remains the second most successful bowler for Sri Lanka after Murali with 49 wickets from 31 games.
Flintoff, the most important reason behind England’s revival as a superpower in the world cricket in the middle of 2000s, is no more with England. Although England have got a few good all-rounders, his prowess in both batting and bowling will be missed by many. He played 18 matches for England in world cups from 1999 to 2007.
Although Brian Lara could never win a world cup for his team, his presence always gave us a glimpse of the one that won it twice. He is the third highest run scorer in world cups with over 1200 runs. He remains at the top of the list of players to have represented West Indies in world cups with 34 appearances.
Like Lara, Stephen Fleming could never take his team to the highest position in world cricket. But he was the one behind almost every success that New Zealand had in world cups from 1996 to 2007. He is not only the highest run scorer for New Zealand in world cups, but he is also the seventh highest in the world. He averaged around 36 to score 1075 runs. New Zealand cricket fans will certainly miss him in this world cup.
Shaun Pollock played 31 games in world cups, the highest for South Africa. Though he was a great player otherwise, he never really excelled at this highest level. He managed to take only 31 wickets and scored at a paltry average of 17. He, however, remains the most successful bowler for South Africa in world cups after Allan Donald.
Ganguly was unfortunate vis-Ã -vis world cups. Although he made his one-daydebut two months before the 1992 World Cup, he failed to be part of the team that played it. He missed out once again in 1996. But a few months after the 1996 competition, he became the integral part of the Indian team for almost a decade. He played 21 games for India in world cups from 1999 to 2007 and is the most successful Indian batsman in world cups after Tendulkar with over a thousand runs. He also extended a helping hand to his team as a bowler, taking 10 wickets. But he is unlikely to be missed much with Gambhir at the top.
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