Its World Cup Time Again

Yes,

Its just a week to the ICC World Cup in the sub continent. The world cup is returning to Asia after a decade. The last one was held in 1996.

Am quite excited at the prospect of watching great teams battle it out to win the world cup.

Its going to be two months of high quality sporting action in the sub continent, what's more Bangladesh has been drawn in to co-host for the first time as against the earlier versions, which were co-hosted by the well known trio of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Here are few of my greatest moments of the past cricket world cup

1975 & 1979 - The class act of Viv Richards and Clive lloyd showed the world why West Indies were the natural powerhouse in cricket, with such a abundant supply of talent , there was no stopping this west indian supremacy.

1983 - The one single innings of 175 not out from Captain Kapil Dev goes down as an innings to remember in a world cup. He led from the front and what became as a surprise to a nation of one billion people with India winning the world cup against the much fancied West Indies

1987 - If one single innings from a captain was the highlight of the previous world cup, one single mistake from a captain was the talk of 1987 world cup. Mike Gatting reverse sweeping Allan Border , only to top edge to be caught by wicket keeper Mike Vellata, this single mistake cost England their world cup.

1992 - There were two people who personified this world cup, Jonty Rhodes who electrified the ground with some stunning fielding , who could forget his run out of Inzamam Ul Haq . The second person was Imran Khan who led from the front in all key moments during the tournament as Pakistan became a worthy champions. Of course this world cup was shadowed by the rain rule in the semi-final between England and South Africa and to top it all , those two magic deliveries from Wasim Akram in the finals were just few glimpses of action during this world cup down under.

1996 - World cup saw a return to the sub continent after close to a decade. This world cup was marred by unrest , initially at the beginning when Australia and West Indies refusing to travel to Sri Lanka to play their group matches due to security reasons but also another massive shame when the world cup semi final between India and Sri Lanka abandoned due to crowd's unruly behaviour. All said , there were two notable players who stood out. Sanath Jayasuriya , who made history with his explosive opening batting and the seasoned Aravinda De Silva whose innings in the Semi-Final and the final will go down as the rare gems in world cup history. Sri Lanka went onto win the world cup , completing the list of sub continent giants being holders of the trophy.

1999 - This world cup saw the introduction of qualifiers from countries who were members of the ICC , it was an effort from ICC for development of the sport in other countries.

South Africa was expected to win this world cup but only to be denied by two costly mistakes, one when Herschelle Gibbs dropped Steve Waugh's catch and next when Allan Donald didn't see Lance Klusner running from the strikers end in what has so far been regarded as the best ever semi-final in world cup history. The world cup also saw the most one sided world cup final of all times when Australia thumped Pakistan in just 20 overs. With Adam Gilchrist blazing away to a unbeaten 140+.

2003 - Australia were the formidable side but were equally matched by India in the group games. Again rain ruined South Africa's chances as an ill fated decision by Mark Boucher cost them the match. It again boiled down to team work of Australia against India's dependence on one single match winner in Sachin Tendulkar . It is also worthy to note the great integrity showed by Adam Gilchrist when he walked off even when the umpire gave him not out in the semi-final against Sri Lanka.

When Sachin was out to Glenn Mcgrath in the finals , the result was all but known, Australia being the worthy winner.

2007 - Matthew Hayden was the name of the game in 2007. His clean hitting and aggressive batting paved the way for Australia's resurgence in the game. Although it was expected to be revival of West Indian cricket but it was far from being any where closer to revival as the hosts were shut out in the super eight stages. With Sri Lanka defeating New Zealand in one semi final and Australia making a short work of South Africa in the other ,it was expected to be a engrossing contest in the final as Australia were expected to avenge their defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the 1996 encounter. They did that in style as the final of the world cup almost ended in complete darkness.

One incident which shook the 2007 world cup was the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer which put the tournament in jeopardy but in the end game won.

With all the ups and downs in the previous nine editions etched in the memory of cricket aficionados , the tenth edition is returning to the sub continent in about a weeks time.

Iam looking forward to an exciting contest ahead.

May the best team win.