For the first time in 28 years, no Asian representative will take the field on the finals of the Cricket’s show-piece event at Melbourne on March 29. The last time no Asian team made to the finals was in 1987.
Four Asian teams made it to the quarter finals of the 2015 Cricket World Cup. However, after Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were beaten by Australia, South Africa and India respectively in the quarter-finals, India were the only team left to maintain the streak.
However, things did not work out well for the Blues as they were beaten comprehensively by tournament co-host Australia in Sydney on Thursday. Riding on Steven Smith’s magnificent century, Australia posed a mammoth 328 runs in their 50 overs.
India who started well lost four wickets in the space of 32 runs to hand the initiative to the Kangaroos. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s solo effort of 65 runs did not help much as India succumbed to 233 runs with 19 balls left.
With this the last Asian representative of the World Cup has also bowed out to ensure that no Asian team will be in a final since 1992. In that period, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have each won a World Cup, with Sri Lanka reaching the most finals, three.
Let us look at the Asian representation in World Cup since 1992:
1992 World Cup (Australia and New Zealand)
The 1992 World Cup which was remembered mainly for this comical calculations after South Africa who had to score 22 runs off 13 balls against England in the semifinals, were asked to get 21 runs in one ball due to rain interruptions. The calculating system for rain-affected matches encountered a massive criticism after that match.
However, on the field, it was England who reached their third World cup final of their history. But, yet again they came out empty handed as Pakistan beat them in the finals. After Pakistan managed 249/6 (50 overs), England were all out for 227 runs.
1996 World Cup (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka )
The show-piece event which took place in the sub-continent in 1996 even was also known as the Wills World Cup. Due to security reasons, Sri Lanka’s opening two games against West Indies and Australia were forfeited and the Lankans qualified to the quarters even before they played a match.
After India beat Pakistan in quarters, the clash of the tournament was the semifinals between India and Sri Lanka. The much anticipated clash turned into a one side encounter after Sri Lanka beat India by a huge margin.
In the finals, the Lankans who won the toss asked Australia to bat first and the Kangaroos scored 241/7 (50 overs). Riding on Aravinda de Silva’s century, Lankans chased down the target with more than three overs left. It was the first time the host or co-host won the tournament.
1999 World Cup (England)
The seventh edition of the tournament was hosted primarily by England, with some games being hosted in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands. Sri Lanka drunk from their previous World Cup success did not even make it into the super-six.
India and Pakistan were the only two sub-continent teams left in the tournament. India too did not make it beyond super-six. However, Pakistan managed to reach the finals before being trashed by Australia by eight wickets.
2003 World Cup (South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya)
The 2003 world Cup had its fair share of controversy. Tournament host South Africa knocked out in the group stage as they missed by one run after misreading the Duckworth-Lewis method rules. However, the real controversies arose when England forfeited their match with Zimbabwe, due to the political unrest in the country, which meant England did not make it beyond group stage.
Similarly New Zealand forfeited their match with Kenya due to security reasons. However, the Kiwis did manage to reach the super-six, but were not able to go beyond it. The World Cup also for the first time saw a non-test playing nation, Kenya to reach the semi-finals, which they eventually lost against India. Also on the shameful note, two days after the tournament had started, the legendary leg-spinner Shane Warne was sent home after testing positive for a banned substance.
Sri Lanka and India reached the last four, however the Lankan’s were unable to get past the Kangaroos. In the final, Ricky Ponting’s unbeaten 140 meant Australia posted a huge 359 runs on board. With too much pressure on the batsmen, India stumbled like a pack of cards and lost the finals by 125 runs.
2007 World Cup (West Indies)
The Caribbean World Cup will be a hard one to take for the sub-continent teams. Pre-tournament favourite India and Pakistan were knocked out in the group stages of the competition. Hence, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka represented Asia in the super-eight.
Bangladesh were not able to go beyond that round and the Lankans managed to reach the finals. However, Adam Gilchrist fireworks (WC finals highest score of 149 runs in 104 balls) meant Australia enacted perfect revenge for their 1996 final defeat to Sri Lanka. Australia also created history by becoming the first team to win three consecutive World Cups.
2011 World Cup (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh)
After 1996, the World Cup for the first time returned to the sub-continent. It was also the first time that knockout format existed from the quarter-finals stage itself. Except for Bangladesh, all the remaining Asian teams qualified for the knock-out round and incidentally, all three qualified for semis.
India knocked-out Australia in the quarter-finals to ensure that for the first time since 1996, Australia was not in a World Cup final. India extended their winning run against Pakistan in World Cups (5-0) to ensure an all Asian final.
After Sri Lanka posted 274/6 (50 overs). India chased it down with 10 balls left in the grand finale at Mumbai. This match also recorded the highest successful run chase by any team in a World Cup Final and also only the third time that a team batting second had won the World Cup Final.