5 cricketers who have won the World Cup without playing a single match

Winning the World Cup is special for any cricketer. It is the greatest honour for any player representing their country at the highest level.

While several players have made their mark on the World Cup over the years, there are some that have lifted the trophy without playing a single game. We look at 5 cricketers that won the World Cup without playing a single game in the tournament.

#5 Tom Curran (2019 World Cup)

Tom Curran in action for England

The England cricket team put an end to years of waiting for the World Cup trophy in 2019 when they beat New Zealand in the final at Lord’s. One player that wasn’t part of the playing XI in the final was 25-year-old Tom Curran.

In fact, he didn’t play a single game in the tournament. Having played 17 ODIs before the World Cup, Curran was drafted into the England squad following some decent performances in the lead up to cricket’s biggest competition.

England, however, chose to depend on the likes of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Chris Wood and Liam Plunkett in the tournament. While he may be happy about his team winning the trophy, Tom Curran would want surely have wanted to play a bigger role in the team’s campaign.

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#4 Mitchell Johnson (2007 World Cup)

Mitchell Johnson playing for Australia

Given the pace attack that the Australian team had in their ranks during their third consecutive World Cup in 2007, it is no surprise that Mitchell Johnson, still early in his career, did not make the playing XI.

Facing competition from the likes of Glenn McGrath, Stuart Clark and Shaun Tait, Johnson had to contend with a place on the bench.

The Australian team would go on to dominate every game in the tournament and would win the final against Sri Lanka comfortably to take their fifth World Cup home as Mitchell Johnson watched on from the sidelines.

The left-arm pacer would play a much greater role in the 2011 World Cup, however. He picked up 10 wickets in 7 games in that edition, at an economy rate of a little more that 4 runs an over. The Aussies would end up crashing out at the quarter-final stage to India: their first defeat in World Cup Cricket in 15 years.

Mitchell Johnson was also Australia's second-highest wicket-taker with 15 wickets in their 2015 World Cup-winning campaign when they beat New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the final.

#3 Brad Haddin (2007 World Cup)

Brad Haddin played an important role in Australia's run to the 2011 World Cup final

Another cricketer that was part of the 2007 World Cup-winning Aussie squad but did not make a single appearance in the tournament is wicket-keeper Brad Haddin. Up against the great Adam Gilchrist for the gloves in the Australian team, Haddin was starting with a handicap.

The stumper watched on as his teammates ensured that the Australians went home happy from the Caribbean Islands.

Haddin was the first choice keeper in the next two editions of the World Cup, even finishing the 2011 World Cup as Australia’s top run-getter with 332 runs.

The true reward for his patience would however come in 2015. That year, the Australian team would win the World Cup for the fifth time in history, and for the first time ever on home turf.

Incidentally, the final against New Zealand that the Aussies won by 7 wickets would be the last ODI that Brad Haddin would ever play.

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#2 Marvan Atapattu (1996 World Cup)

Marvan Atapattu in action for Sri Lanka

A veteran of 268 ODI matches, Marvan Atapattu was still very young in his ODI career when Sri Lanka co-hosted the 1996 Cricket World Cup, alongside India and Pakistan. The former Sri Lankan captain had only played 7 matches at the time the tournament came around.

The team management decided to not risk the inexperienced youngster in the pressure environment of the World Cup. While the decision would bear fruit, Atapattu missed out on his chance to play in the famous Sri Lankan World Cup win of 1996.

The future captain of the Lankan Lions would go on to play in the 1999 and 2003 editions of the tournament but the team would never scale the heights of 1996 again.

Atapattu would retire ahead of the 2007 World Cup after falling out with the selectors.

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#1 Sunil Valson (1983 World Cup)

Sunil Valson was part of India's 1983 squad

Left-arm pacer Sunil Valson was only 24 years old when he was called up to the Indian World Cup squad in 1983. Although he didn’t play a single game in the tournament, the Indian team, who came to be known as ‘Kapil’s Devils’, would create history by beating the mighty West Indies in the finals at Lord’s.

Although that tournament will fondly be remembered by Indian fans across the world, Sunil Valson would become a forgotten part of the squad over the years. Valson is unique on this list since he is the only player to have won the World Cup without playing a single international match.

The Indian cricket team would have to wait another 28 years before they won the World Cup again when the MS Dhoni-led team of 2011 lifted the trophy at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.