The first World Cups was held in June 1975 in England, the first ODI cricket match was played just four years earlier. However, a separate Women’s Cricket World Cup was held two years before the first men’s tournament, and a tournament involving several international teams was held as early as 1912, when Australia, England and South Africa A triangular tournament of Test matches was played. . The first three World Cups were held in England. Since the 1987 tournament, the hosting of the Cricket World Cup has been divided between different countries. In which fourteen ICC members have hosted at least one match in the tournament.
The current format includes a qualification stage, which takes place over the last three years, to determine which teams qualify for the tournament stage. In the tournament stage, 10 teams who are also members of Test cricket qualify for the World Cup, including one team from the host country. The World Cup matches are held for about a month in the host country. Teams from different countries compete for the title.
A total of twenty teams have participated in the twelve editions of the tournament. Ten teams participated in the 2019 tournament. Australia five times, India and West Indies twice each while Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England won the tournament once each.
England won the 2019 World Cup. The 2023 World Cup is underway in India, and the 2027 World Cup will be held jointly in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Prudential World Cups
The inaugural Cricket World Cup was hosted by England in 1975, the only country to have been able to fund such a massive event. The 1975 World Cup was also hosted by England. These matches started on June 7. The first three World Cups were held in England. At that time, the World Cup was called the Prudential Cup and the matches played in the World Cups consisted of 60 overs. These matches were played in daylight. Uniforms were worn while a red colored ball was used for bowling.
The start of the World Cups
Eight teams participated in the first World Cup, including six Test nations, Sri Lanka and East Africa also joined this tournament. The Test teams included Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and the West Indies. South Africa was banned because of their racism. The tournament was held in the name of West Indies, who defeated Australia by 17 runs at Lord’s. Roy Fredericks of West Indies was the first batsman to take a hit wicket in an ODI during the 1975 World Cups final.
Deciding on the duration of the World Cups
In the 1979 World Cup, the countries which did not get Test cricket status, ECC started the ECC Trophy competition for these countries. and defeated England by 92 runs in the final. After the World Cups , the ECC meeting was held, in which it was decided to hold the World Cup every four years.
The host of the event is England
The 1983 event was hosted by England. In this event, Sri Lanka had achieved the status of a Test cricket playing country and became a part of this event by qualifying through the ECC Trophy. The title of this tournament went to India. India defeated West Indies by 43 runs in the final.
World Cups hosts Pakistan and India
The 1987 tournament was hosted by India and Pakistan for the first time outside England. As cricket was played during the day time. And that land had shorter daylight hours compared to England. Hence the game was played over 50 overs. Australia was crowned the winner in this tournament. Australia proved to be a strong team by defeating England by 7 runs in the final.
The 1992 World Cup trophy was hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In the 1992 World Cup, new rules were introduced in the game.
New reforms in the World Cups
In 1992, colored uniforms were used for the first time. Apart from this, matches were held during the day as well as at night. The white ball was introduced instead of the red ball. New fielding ban rules were made in 1992. After the end of apartheid, the ban on Africa was lifted and South Africa joined the World Cup in 1992. Pakistan showed a disappointing performance in this tournament. And defeated England by 22 runs in the final.
World Cups Hosted by England
In 1999, England once again hosted the event, some of the matches were also hosted by Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands. Twelve teams participated in this World Cup. The best performance in this tournament was by Australia. The final was between Australia and Pakistan, in which Pakistan showed a very bad performance. Australia bowled out the entire Pakistan team for 132 for 132 runs and achieved the target in less than 20 overs. When the Australian team arrived in Sydney after winning the title, 10,000 fans welcomed their team to a hat-trick of victories.
Africa Zimbabwe and Kenya World Cups
The 2003 World Cup was hosted in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. At that time, the number of teams participating in the event had increased. A total of 14 teams participated in the event. Kenya’s victories against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe added new excitement to the game. Kenya performed exceptionally well in the tournament and managed to reach the semi-finals. The final was between Australia and India, in which Australia won the World Cup. And India was given a target of 359 runs. But India could not meet this target and lost to India by 125 runs and lost 359 runs.
World Cups Host West Indies
The 2007 World Cup was held in the West Indies and sixteen teams competed for the title. In the early matches of 2007, Pakistan was defeated by a new team like Ireland. Pakistan’s performance in this tournament was very disappointing. As a result, coach Bob Vollmer died in his room and was found dead in his room. He died of cardiac arrest. Initially, it was being investigated that Bob Vollmer’s death was not natural, but he was murdered. The victory of this event was also in the name of Australia. Sri Lanka won by 29 runs.
2011 Pakistan missed out on hosting.
In 2011, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh performed the duty of hosting the World Cup. Although Pakistan was also included in the host country, but the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009 deprived Pakistan not only of this hosting. Rather, all the international cricket teams refused to come and play in Pakistan. And the doors of international cricket were closed on Pakistan for many years.
The number of teams in this event was reduced and 14 teams were selected for the World Cup. Australia was defeated by Pakistan in the semi-final. And thus Australia’s monopoly on the World Cup ended on March 19, 2011. This World Cup remained in the name of India. And Sri Lanka once again lost the final. Both the finalists were from Asia and it was the first time in the history of the World Cups that two Asian countries were competing against each other in the final.
Host of 2015
In 2015, the hosting was shared between Australia and New Zealand. In this event too, fourteen teams faced each other for the title. Ireland’s overall performance was good in this event. New Zealand and South Africa faced each other in the semi-finals. And after a thrilling contest, New Zealand won and managed to make it to the final of the World Cup. But the title New Zealand could not win and Australia won the title for the fifth time by defeating New Zealand in the final.
World Cup 2019
The 2019 World Cup was played on the soil of England and Wales. The number of teams was further reduced and only 10 teams were in the field for the title. The crown of the World Cup was given to England. And New Zealand faced defeat once again
World Cup 2023
The World Cup 2023 is going on in India. And the teams involved in the World Cup are facing each other for the title. In this World Cup, the matches between India and Pakistan are being awaited with the most anxiety. This World Cup Who will be the king of the title? It will be decided by the performance of the teams.
