World Cups from 1975 to 2011
2011 World Cup will have new exciting features like UDRS and ‘Super over’ in its folds. This is the latest in a series of changes to formats over the years. Did you know the first 3 World Cup events were played with 60-over innings? Did you know that World Cup was played with red balls till 1987? Did you know 30-yard circle was first introduced in the 1983 World Cup? There are so many changes that have taken place over the years as cricket’s premier event kept marching ahead. Find out in the next few pages everything about each World Cup in snippets.
1975 World Cup
Winner: West Indies
Tournament duration: 15 days
Format: Two groups and top two in semi finals
Clothing: White clothing and red balls
Overs per inning: 60
Field restrictions: No
Biggest change in format: NA
Highest score: 334/4 by England against India in Group A
Lowest team score: 86 by Sri Lanka against West Indies in Group B
Unforgettable moment: Dennis Amiss making the first ever World Cup century when he scored 137 off just 147 balls. Another unforgettable moment was Sunil Gavaskar scoring 36 off 174 balls while batting out the 60 overs.
1979 World Cup
No. of teams: 8
Tournament duration: 15 days
Format: Two groups and top two in semi finals
Clothing: White clothing and red balls
Overs per inning: 60
Field restrictions: No
Biggest change in format: No change
Highest score: 286/9 by West Indies against England in the final
Lowest team score: 45 by Canada against England in Group A
Unforgettable moment: A great knock of 138 by Vivian Richards in the final at Lord's
1983 World Cup
No. of teams: 8
Tournament duration: 17 days
Format: Two groups and top two in semi finals
Clothing: White clothing and red balls
Overs per inning: 60
Field restrictions: 30-yard circle introduced in cricket for the first time. Minimum of 4 fielders inside it throughout the innings
.Biggest change in format: Introduction of 30-yard circle
Highest score: 338/5 by Pakistan against Sri Lanka in Group A
Lowest team score: 136 by Sri Lanka against England in Group A
Unforgettable moment: India beating the tournament favourite West Indies in a dramatic final at Lord's.
1987 World Cup
No. of teams: 8
Tournament duration: 31 days
Format: Two groups and top two in semi finals
Clothing: White clothing and red balls
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: Yes. 30-yard circle
Biggest change in format: Reduction in number of overs from 60 to 50 plus introduction of neutral umpire concept
Highest score: 360/4 by West Indies against Sri Lanka in Group B
Lowest team score: 135 by Zimbabwe against India in Group A
Unforgettable moment: First hat-trick in World Cup history. The honours went to Chetan Sharma of India who removed Kiwi batsmen Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Chatfield in successive balls
1992 World Cup
No. of teams: 9
Tournament duration: 32 days
Format: Round robin. All teams played each other once and top four went through to the semi finals
Clothing: Coloured clothing and white balls
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: Only 2 fielders allowed outside 30-yard circle in the first 15 overs
Biggest change in format: Day-night matches. Coloured clothing and white balls
Highest score: 313/7 by Sri Lanka against Zimbabwe
Lowest team score: 74 by Pakistan against England
Unforgettable moment: South Africa rejoining mainstream cricket after the end of apartheid
1996 World Cup
No. of teams: 12
Tournament duration: 33 days
Format: Two groups and top four in each group through to quarterfinals
Clothing: Coloured clothing
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: 30-yard circle in the first 15 overs. Only 2 fielders allowed outside of it
Biggest change in format: Quarterfinal stage introduced for the first time
Highest score: 398/5 by Sri Lanka against Kenya in Group A
Lowest team score: 93 by West Indies against Kenya in Group A
Unforgettable moment: Sri Lanka scoring over 100 runs in the first 15 overs in 3 matches enroute to winning their first World Cup plus Aravinda de Silva's back-to-back
Man-of-the-match awards in the semi final and final. Add to this Kenya shocking West Indies at Poona after bundling out the Caribbean giants for the tournament's lowest total.
1999 World Cup
No. of teams: 12
Tournament duration: 38 days
Format: 2 groups and top 3 from each group progressed to Super Six. the top 4 from Super Six made it to semi finals
Clothing: Coloured clothing
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: 30-yard circle
Biggest single change in format: Introduction of Super Six
Highest score: 373/6 by India against Sri Lanka in Group A
Lowest team score: 68 by Scotland against West Indies in Group B
Unforgettable moment: Tied semi final match between Australia and South Africa, which allowed the Aussies to go through on better net run rate.
2003 World Cup
Winner: Australia
No. of teams: 14
Tournament duration: 43 days
Format: 2 groups and top 3 from each group progressed to Super Six. the top 4 from Super Six made it to semi finals
Clothing: coloured clothing
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: 30-yard circle for the first 15 overs
Biggest single change in format: Nothing notable
Highest score: 359/2 by Australia against India in the final
Lowest team score: 36 by Canada against Sri Lanka in Pool B
Unforgettable moment: First time cricket world cup event went to the African continent. Ricky Ponting's phenomenal 146 off just 121 balls in the final
2007 World Cup
No. of teams: 16
Tournament duration: 47 days
Format: 4 groups of 4 teams each. Top two from each group progress to super 8. The top 4 in Super eight progressed to semi finals
Clothing: coloured clothing
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: Powerplay introduced for the first time in World Cup cricket
Biggest change in format: Introduction of Super 8 and powerplay
Highest score: 377/6 by Australia against South Africa in Group A
Lowest team score: 77 by Ireland against Sri Lanka in Super Eight stage
Unforgettable moment: Bangladesh knocking India out in first round and Ireland knocking Pakistan out in the first round. Plus Gilchrist's unbelievable 149 off just 104 balls simply stands out as the greatest World Cup final inning by an individual.
2011 World Cup - INDIA
Tournament duration: 41 days
Format: 2 Groups with 7 teams in each group. The top 4 in each group go through to the quarterfinals
Clothing: Coloured
Overs per inning: 50
Field restrictions: Powerplay
Biggest change in format: Super Eight removed. UDRS and Super Over introduced
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