World Cup 1979 History and Winner

The Cricket World Cup has been a tournament that has been the premier event of the cricketing landscape for nearly 50 years now: the 13th edition of the tournament returns later this year, being hosted in India for the fourth time. While Test cricket is still considered the ultimate form of cricket and the pinnacle of the sport, there is nothing greater than the World Cup to be won, and it can be the highlight of a player’s career.

The ICC, having become the International Cricket Council overseeing a vast and growing sport in 1964, introduced the idea of a World Cup for cricket in 1971, and the logistics had been put in place to host the first tournament in England in 1975. The first three tournaments were held in England, and were quite a bit different to how they are now: they were 60-over affairs, played in all-whites, and with a red ball.

The first three tournaments were dominated by the awe-inspiring West Indies team of those decades, headed by the four-horsemen pace attack and on the batting end by Vivian Richards, Gordon Greenidge, and their captain Clive Lloyd. The West Indies won the first two tournaments — called the Prudential World Cup due to branding — and reached the final of the third, where they lost famously to Kapil Dev’s gutsy Indian team at Lord’s.

The World Cup would move to India and Pakistan in 1987, and the reduction to 50 overs was an enforced change due to fewer daylight hours on the subcontinent. Australia won their first World Cup under Allan Border, but the ODI World Cup, and the format itself, wouldn’t begin to become what it is today until the 1992 edition in Australia and New Zealand. White balls were introduced, as well as coloured clothing which has become synonymous with international cricket ever since.

Pakistan would win in 1992, and Sri Lanka would be the first ever hosts to lift the trophy when they won in the co-hosted 1996 tournament. 1996 would signal the beginning of Australia’s dominance, as they reached that final before three-peating in 1999, 2003, and 2007. India would host and win the 2011 World Cup with MS Dhoni famously finishing it off, before Australia would make it 5 at home in 2015, and England finally won by beating New Zealand in a tied game and then a tied super-over.

Over the course of its history, the World Cup has borne witness to some of the game’s greatest. Sachin Tendulkar is its all-time leading run-scorer, his remarkable longevity best seen in the fact that he played at six World Cups, winning his final one at home in Mumbai. He also has the most centuries, tied with Rohit Sharma on 6, with Sharma having scored 5 at the 2019 World Cup, a record of its own. The highest individual score is Martin Guptill’s 237* against the West Indies in 2015, a tournament which saw the first two non-Indians to score a double century in ODI cricket.

On the bowling side, Glenn McGrath was the spearhead for the dominant Australia team from 1996 to 2007, as those 4 finals runs saw him pick up 71 wickets. He also possesses the best figures, with 7/15 against Namibia in 2003.

The ODI World Cup shares its name with the T20 version now, but its history and legacy mean it will always remain the ultimate prize for any cricketer to win. It’s never been more diverse or competitive than it is now, and that means it promises to be a cracker of a tournament before the World Cup celebrates its 50th birthday two years from now.