The ODI World Cup is undoubtedly the biggest tournament in cricket. If you can score big here, you have made a name for yourself. However, not all could fire here, and some names were stars in their own right but couldn’t shine. We look at the list of players who struggled to live up to their name in the World Cup.
5 Legendary Cricketers With a Poor Record in World Cup
As mentioned above, some big names could have performed better in the multi-nation tournament. Here are those five legendary cricketers who have underperformed in the tournament’s history:
- Inzamam-ul-Haq
- Allan Border
- Kris Srikkanth
- James Anderson
- Harbhajan Singh
We will take a look at the five players up close:
Inzamam-ul-Haq
The former Pakistan captain played in a lot of ODI World Cups. He made his debut in 1992 and played in his final ODI World Cup in 2007, where he led the team to a first-round exit after a loss to Ireland. Nonetheless, Inzamam, who won the 1992 World Cup with Pakistan, was also lukewarm with the bat, as he accounted for 717 runs in 33 innings. He averaged just 23, which was low compared to the standards that he set.
Allan Border
Border was the captain of Australia when they won the ODI World Cup in 1987. It was under his leadership that Australia started to find its voice in international cricket, and the likes of Steve Waugh, Shane Warne, and Glenn McGrath made their debut. But he was never quite his best with the bat in the World Cup. He played 25 matches, scoring just 452 runs with an average of below 19. It is surprising that Border, who has over 11,000 runs in Test cricket, managed just one half-century in the ODI World Cup history.
Kris Srikanth
Despite the fame that he generated, Srikkanth was a mediocre player in the ODI World Cup. He had been among the top Indian stars but couldn’t consistently deliver with the bat on the big stage. The Chennai-born cricketer’s World Cup run tally is 521 runs in 23 innings at an average of 23. Nevertheless, the Chennai-born cricketer was part of the winning team in 1983.
James Anderson
Anderson is one of the senior members of the England cricket team. He is perhaps the only fast bowler to have played 20 years of international cricket, making his debut in 2003. As he grew in stature in Test cricket, his performance at the ODI World Cup was not up to the mark. Anderson has only 27 wickets in 25 ODI World Cup outings, with a disappointing strike rate of 46.
Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan, despite his classy bowling in the red-ball cricket, couldn’t quite become the ODI cricketer he wanted to become. The off-spinner struggled to pick up wickets consistently in the 2003, 2007, and 2011 World Cups. In 21 ODI World Cup matches, Harbhajan managed to take 20 wickets at a poor strike rate of 57. He was part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad.
Concluding Thoughts
Sometimes, the pressure can get to you, and that could be the reason why players like Harbhajan, Srikkanth, and Inzamam were left playing catch-up in tournament like these. In ODI World Cups, players want to perform at their best constantly, but sometimes that is impossible.
Eventually, players will have one bad outing and are left to play catch-up. And every time they enter the ground, they are under pressure from ball one. It is what could have happened with the players mentioned here. Also, a bowler like Anderson was unlucky to have played in an era where England was not good enough in ODI cricket.
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