The 50-over World Cup is considered to be the holy grail of international cricket and achieving success in the tournament is every player's dream. Some of the greatest cricketers of all time have had the honour to lay hands on the prestigious World Cup trophy at a certain point in their careers.
However, there have been quite a few iconic figures who have been unfortunate never to be part of a World Cup-winning squad. Quite a few of them have been great bowlers who brought laurels for their respective countries across multiple formats of the game.
Here are 5 highly successful bowlers who never won the World Cup:
5. Daniel Vettori
Daniel Vettori is easily the best spinner to have represented New Zealand in international cricket. In a career which lasted 18 years, Vettori played 113 Tests and 295 ODIs and picked up more than 300 wickets in both formats. The left-arm spinner was also a more than useful batsman and has scored a lot of runs in his career, too, especially in the longer format.
Vettori played for the Kiwis in 4 World Cups starting from the 2003 edition in South Africa; however, he could not taste glory in any of them. The closest the bespectacled spinner came to winning the esteemed tournament was in 2015, where New Zealand made it to the final for the first time but lost to Australia.
4. Courtney Walsh
Legendary West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh is considered to be one of the best bowlers to have played the game. Walsh played 132 Tests and held the record for the most wickets in a career with 519 wickets until it was surpassed by Sri Lankan icon Muttiah Muralitharan in 2004.
The lanky paceman was also a prolific ODI bowler and claimed 227 wickets in 205 matches including incredible best figures of 5 for 1. In all, Walsh participated in 3 World Cups from 1987 to 1999, excluding the 1992 edition. However, the legend from the Caribbean had to walk away empty-handed every time.
3. Shaun Pollock
Iconic South African fast bowler Shaun Pollock is his country's most successful bowler in Tests as well as ODIs. In 108 Tests and 303 ODI matches that Pollock played during his international career, he picked up 421 and 393 wickets respectively. He also captained the Proteas side in 26 Test matches and 97 one-day internationals.
During his 13-year career, Pollock represented South Africa in 4 editions of the World Cup - 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007. However, the great bowler and his team never managed to bring home the World Cup, a feat that the South Africans are yet to achieve so far.
2. Richard Hadlee
Arguably the best fast bowler to have ever played the game, Richard Hadlee enjoyed unprecedented success for New Zealand across both formats. With 431 wickets, Hadlee was the leading wicket-taker of all time at one point until his record was surpassed by legendary Indian bowler Kapil Dev.
Hadlee took part in the first 3 editions of the World Cup and picked up 22 wickets in 13 matches with best figures of 5 for 25. However, despite his impressive performance in the tournament, the Kiwis were not able to become champions on any occasion.
1. Anil Kumble
India's current head coach Anil Kumble is the greatest bowler to have played cricket for the country. Kumble's career spanned for a period of 18 years, during which he played 132 Tests and 271 one-day internationals. He is the third highest wicket-taker of all time in Tests with 619 wickets and has also been the most successful Indian bowler in ODIs.
Anil Kumble's World Cup career began in the 1996 edition and he represented the Indian team in the next 3 editions as well. Although Team India came close to winning the 2003 World Cup, they were undone by Australia in the final. Kumble is among the greatest modern-day cricketers who never won the prestigious tournament.
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