5 teams you might not know who played the World Cup

The World Cup is the most coveted silverware in the sport of cricket. A highly competitive tournament, it is played every four years and requires the athletes to be at their elite best to fancy their chances in the squad.

While established teams such as India, Australia, South Africa and England kick off their tournament preparations a long time before the event, to lay their hands on the ultimate glory. However, for some associate nations, it is a matter of great pride to represent their territories in the multilateral extravaganza.

Kenya, Netherlands, Scotland and Ireland (formerly) have been some of the nations that have continuously marked their presence in the sporting extravaganza, with Kenya and Ireland also inflicting some of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.

At the same time, there are some astonishing names in the list of participants, teams who you might not know that featured in the World Cup. Here, are five such teams:

#5 Canada

Ironically, Canada was one of the two teams (along with the USA) to feature in the first official cricket match in 1844. Apart from this, there have hardly been many moments to cherish for the Canadian cricket. Few of these occasions have come in the form of World Cup berths, 4 to be exact.

Canada participated in the World Cup for the first time in 1979, when the tournament used to be played in whites with 60 overs per side. Canada had finished as Runners-Up in the ICC Trophy; a 15-nation qualification tournament played in the same year. Wicketkeeper-batsman, Bryan Mauricette led the Canadians for the first time where they failed to win any of their matches and were out at the group stage.

The team did not feature in the next 5 editions, and made a comeback in the next millennium, in the 2003 World Cup. This time around, the North American nation did succeed to register a victory as they prevailed over Bangladesh in a low scoring encounter.

Canada did qualify for the next two editions as well but failed to make an impact, as they managed to win only one match, against Kenya in 2011. The nation did create a World Cup record, as its player Nitish Kumar became the youngest to play in the tournament at the age of 16 years and 283 days.

#4 United Arab Emirates

The team from Middle East Asia marked their presence in the quadrennial tournament for the first time in 1996 World Cup played in the subcontinent. The team was captained by right arm leg spinner Sultan Zarawani.

UAE tasted success in one match in the tournament, as they came on top against fellow associate nation Netherlands, in what was the first official ODI between two ICC associate teams.

Another noteworthy point concerning UAE was the score of 188* against them by Gary Kirsten, which remained the record for the highest score in the World Cup for 19 years, until it was broken by Chris Gayle and subsequently by Martin Guptill in 2015.

Gary Kirsten notched a then-record 188* against UAE

UAE missed out on the next four editions of the World Cup and made a comeback in the 2015 World Cup which was played Down Under. The squad, largely comprising of Indian and Pakistani natives, was led by 43-year old off spinner Mohammad Tauqir, a local man. The wicketkeeper of UAE, Swapnil Patil, happened to be the childhood friend of Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane.

This time around, the Middle East nation failed to score any points as they finished at the bottom of Group B, with their best performance coming against Zimbabwe.

#3 East Africa

East Africa played the inaugural World Cup in 1975

East Africa qualified for the inaugural edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1975 by virtue of an invitation from the apex body. It was the only team without a Test status, along with Sri Lanka. Though East Africa was a team representing the nations of Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania, it was predominantly composed of Gujarati and Pakistani natives. The squad was captained by Harilal Shah, a right-handed batsman.

The team failed to register any points on the board, as they finished last in Group A, beaten by India, England and New Zealand. In fact, East Africa was the first team against which India registered their first ODI win, which coincidentally also happened to be the first ODI match to be won by 10 wickets.

This remains the only World Cup appearance for East Africa, as the team failed to qualify for the further editions and later got replaced by the East and Central African Cricket team.

#2 Bermuda

Bermuda made a cut in the 16-nation 2007 World Cup which was played in West Indies, by virtue of a semi-final finish in the 2005 ICC Trophy. The squad comprised largely of amateurs, ranging from school teachers to policemen, Bermuda's campaign at the quadrennial event was no short of a fairy tale.

The island nation, captained by right-handed batsman Irving Romaine, was pitted in Group B against India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Although the team failed to win any match, their presence marked many eventful incidents. Bermuda faced India in their second fixture and were battered by the Indian batsmen, as they amassed a mammoth 413/5, which remains the highest score in the history of the World Cup.

Dwayne Leverock of Bermuda took a one-handed blinder of Robin Uthappa

In the same game, Bermuda's Malachi Jones became only the second cricketer after Australia's Ian Harvey (2003) to pick up a wicket on his first World Cup delivery, as he edged Robin Uthappa to Dwayne Leverock for a one-handed blinder at the slips.

Bermuda's defeat by 257 runs was a record for the biggest defeat margin by runs at that time. The North American territory has not featured in cricket's biggest showdown since then.

#1 Namibia

Namibia qualified for the 2003 World Cup held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya by finishing as the Runners Up in the 2001 ICC Trophy. The African nation was captained by Deon Kotze, a spinning all-rounder.

The 2003 World Cup was not a very memorable outing for Namibia, as they were beaten resoundingly in most of their encounters. Their most convincing match was against England, as they were well on their course to effect one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament, but fell short by 55 runs. Right arm pacer RJ van Vuuren claimed a five-wicket haul in the game.

Sachin Tendulkar hit a blistering 152 against Namibia

Besides this game, perhaps the most notable mark of their campaign was the 34th ODI century of Sachin Tendulkar, which was achieved by the Master Blaster in the 4th game of Namibia in the event.

Since then, Namibia have not succeeded in representing themselves again at the biggest stage in any of the subsequent editions.