Most believe that the first cricket world cup was held in 1975. Not really as the first-ever attempt on a cricket world cup was made in 1912, the early days of cricket. It was a three-way series that was played between the test-playing nations South Africa, England, and Australia.
However, it was the poor weather that left the tournament uncompleted and no such effort was repeated until 1975. After the success of domestic one-day competitions, it was in 1975 when the six leading test-playing nations including New Zealand, Australia, England, West Indies, Pakistan, and India were joined by East Africa and Sri Lanka to play the first World Cup. It was organized in England.
It was a successful tournament and was organized in 1979 and 1983 again in England. After these tournaments, World Cup was organized in other countries as well while maintaining a four-year cycle. 2007 World Cup was organized in the Caribbean for the first time but it wasn’t too successful in terms of poor management and lengthy format.
After 15 years, World Cup returned to the subcontinent and it was a major success because of the performances of smaller teams like Ireland. So far how many World Cups have been played and who were the winners of this tournament, here is a breakdown for you:
■ 1975 cricket World Cup: Organized in England- West Indies was the winner after beating Australia.
■ 1979 cricket World Cup: Organized in England- West Indies defeated England to become the champion.
■ 1983 cricket World Cup: Organized in England- India won this tournament after defeating West Indies.
■ 1987 cricket World Cup: Organized in India and Pakistan jointly. Australia became the champion after defeating England.
■ 1992 cricket World Cup: Organized in New Zealand and Australia: Pakistan became the champion for the first time after beating England.
■ 1996 cricket World Cup: Organized in India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. Sri Lanka was victorious after defeating Australia.
■ 1999 cricket World Cup: Organized in England. Australia very convincingly beat Pakistan in the finals.
■ 2003 World Cup: Organized in South Africa. Australian team defeated India and claimed the title for the third time.
■ 2007 World Cup: Organized in the Caribbean. It was another win for Australia where it claimed the title after defeated Sri Lanka.
■ 2011 World Cup: Organized in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka jointly. India defeated Sri Lanka to win the world cup for the second time.
So who’s your pick for the 2015 World Cup?