"2003 CWC: The most interesting cricket tournament ever"

REDKP

31-Dec-2021

"The 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup was the eighth Cricket World Cup, organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya from 9 February to 23 March 2003. This edition of the World Cup was the first to be played in Africa."

"The tournament featured 14 teams, the largest number in the World Cup's history at the time, with a total of 54 matches being played."

The factors that made the world cup interesting:-

1. Playing conditions

"Well, what made this tournament interesting is the South African conditions, a literal death hell for batsmen, especially the openers as it is rated to be the toughest conditions for batting as they offer bounce, pace, swing with the new ball and reverse swing with the older ball ( those days only ball was used throughout an innings in one-dayers, giving some help to the bowlers)."

"So, most often or not matches were low scoring thrillers where the fielding team ends up defending such totals." " A classic example was the group stage encounter between INDIA and the NETHERLANDS, where the Indian team batting first made only around 200 runs all out and ended up winning by a healthy margin of 60 odd runs." "So clearly it can be inferred that even a score of 220-230 could set up an exciting affair."

2. The marketing factor

"The hosts of the eighth World Cup wanted it to be the greatest yet. In financial terms, it was - profits of $US194m represented a huge increase on the $51m made in 1999." " It was just the time when cricket was becoming cricketainment, with more stats being displayed in between the overs, 3-D ball trackers, hawkeye, more spicey pre-tournament ad's ( well the Pepsi's ad campaigns were deliberately funny)."

"Also, several modern-day stars represented their national team's making it one of the star-studded cricketing tournaments to be ever played."

3. The favourites and surprises

"Well, without a doubt the Aussies were the preconceived favourites for semis ( Were the defending champions and playing some quality cricket at that time) with others competing for the other three semi-final spots."

"The tournament saw numerous upsets and surprises, with South Africa, Pakistan, West Indies and England all being eliminated at the group stage (South Africa missed by 1 run after misreading the Duckworth-Lewis method rules, the perennial choker's)." "England forfeited their match with Zimbabwe, due to the political unrest in the country, which ultimately enabled that team to reach the Super Sixes." "Similarly, New Zealand forfeited their match with Kenya, due to security reasons which enabled the latter to reach the semi-finals, the only non-Test playing nation to do so."

"Another shock wave came two days after the tournament had started, when Shane Warne, at the time one of the game's leading spinners, was sent home in disgrace after testing positive for a banned substance."

"Though our Indian team had built a solid core by that time under Sourav Ganguly due to their recent form before the world cup wasn't encouraging enough which can be discussed later in this article."

4. The Moments

"Well, who wouldn't remember, Shoaib Akhtar, setting a world record, becoming the fastest bowler in the history of cricket, delivering a record top speed of 161.3km/h (100.23 mph) in a pool match against Englan if asked about this world cup."

"But, surprisingly a non-test playing nation Kenya had qualified for the semifinal ahead of many giants of the game in all respects is also a noteworthy moment in the history of the game."

"Also, Shaun Pollack then the South African captain was sledged by SriLankan wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakarra during a do or die encounter for South Africa at Durban Kingsmead stadium will also be remembered as a 'classic sledge'."

Quoting the exact conversation below:

"Lots of pressure here for the skipper, yeah," Sangakkara can be heard to say. "He's going to let his whole country down now if he fails.

"Lots of expectations, fellas. The weight of all these expectations, fellas. The weight of the country, chaps.

"Forty-two million supporters right here, depending on Shaun."

"Well, the 2003 world cup final was won by Australia against India at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, whose stuff can be discussed in another article."