Greatest playing XI featuring players who retired without a World Cup

Over the last few days, the exits of legendary players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi etc. from the 2018 FIFA World Cup that is currently taking place in Russia have hogged the limelight. Both Ronaldo and Messi, who are arguably two of the greatest to have played the sport, are yet to win the tournament in spite of featuring in the tournament on four occasions.

Sometimes, sports can be cruel and the case is no different with cricket. A lot of legendary cricketers had to call it a day without winning the World Cup. Winning the World Cup is not an easy task and even the greatest cricketer to have played the sport, Sachin Tendulkar, took as many as six attempts to get his hands on the elusive trophy.

Unlike Sachin, there are a lot of great players who don't know how it feels to be a World Champion. Let us take a look at a playing XI comprising of the 11 greatest cricketers to have played the sport without winning a World Cup.

Note: Only players who have announced their retirement were considered. This piece revolves around the ODI format, not T20Is.

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Openers - Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sourav Ganguly (c)

Tillakaratne Dilshan ended his career as a Sri Lankan legend

A lot of fantastic openers were unfortunate not to end up winning the ICC World Cup. The likes of Saeed Anwar, Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten etc. gave their everything but failed to get their hands on the most elusive trophy in cricket.

The openers in our XI will be India great Sourav Ganguly, who is also the captain of this side, and former Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan. Ganguly featured in three World Cup editions and led his team to the final in the 2003 edition, which is his best finish at a World Cup.

Dilshan, on the other hand, became a force to reckon with when he started to open the batting for Sri Lanka. The right-hander featured in three editions and ended up on the losing side in the final twice.

With a combined total of 21,653 runs, the duo can form a formidable opening combination in the ODI format.

Middle order - Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene, AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers retired recently

Batting at number 3 will be legendary Indian batsman and the latest inductee into the ICC Hall of Fame, Rahul Dravid. A veteran of over 10,000 runs in both ODIs and Tests, Dravid wasn't lucky enough to win the World Cup even once. He was a part of the Indian side during the 2003 World Cup and that till date, is his best performance in a World Cup.

Mahela Jayawardene was a part of the Sri Lankan team in five different World Cup editions and the best he managed to do is reach the final of the tournament on two occasions. Mahela is one of the few players who has scored over 10,000 runs in both Tests and ODIs and it is very unfortunate that he couldn't get his hands on the trophy even once.

The first of the three South Africans in this XI is loved by almost every cricket fan in the world. Such is the impact created by AB de Villiers when he was playing for South Africa. Even though he announced his retirement from international cricket last month, he is still loved by millions of people around the world.

Considered as one of the greatest players to have played the sport, de Villiers not winning the World Cup will always be a regret to the former Protea skipper.

Wicketkeeper and all-rounder - Kumar Sangakkara, Shahid Afridi

Kumar Sangakkara retired from ODIs after the 2015 World Cup

With 14,234 runs in ODI cricket, former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara comes second in the list of most runs scored by a batsman in the format behind the great Sachin Tendulkar and without a doubt, he is one of the greatest to have played the sport.

Having played the World Cup in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015, all Sangakkara managed is to play in the final twice and end up on the losing side. A legend like Sangakkara not winning the World Cup is a bigger loss to the tournament than the batsman himself. After playing a majority of his career as a wicketkeeper-batsman, Sangakkara will don the gloves in this XI.

Shahid Afridi, who has been around for a long time now, made his ODI debut for Pakistan as a 16-year-old right after the 1996 World Cup. Since then, the veteran of 8064 runs and 395 wickets in 398 ODI matches has played in the extravaganza on five occasions. Unfortunately, the runners-up medal is the best he could manage. He has been chosen in this team as its all-rounder.

Spinners - Saqlain Mushtaq

File photo of Saqlain Mushtaq of Pakistan appeals to the Umpire

With Shahid Afridi already in the team, there is no need for a second spinner as Afridi himself is capable of bowling 10 overs in an ODI.

But, having an off-spinner with a lot of tricks up his sleeve, will add more value to the team. Saqlain Mushtaq, who managed to play just 169 ODIs, has picked up 288 wickets at an average of 21.7 and a strike-rate of 30.4. Saqlain also held the record for the fastest to 100 ODI wickets for a long time.

In his career, he has taken part in three World Cups and failed to win the tournament on all three occasions. Saqlain and Afridi will be the spinners in the side with Dilshan providing some of his handy off-spin as the sixth bowler.

Fast bowlers - Shaun Pollock, Waqar Younis, Allan Donald

Two legendary South African pacers

The fast bowlers in this team will be Pakistani legend Waqar Younis and the deadly Proteas duo of Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald.

Waqar, whose ODI career began in 1989, could have played in the 1992 World Cup that Pakistan won. But, he wasn't a part of the squad that already had some of the greatest pacers to have played the sport. Since then, the right-arm pacer played in three editions but ended his career without a World Cup.

Pollock and Donald, on the other hand, have played in four World Cups (Donald played in '92, '96, '99, '03 while Pollocked played in '96, '99, '03 and '07). Sadly, the veterans of 665 ODI wickets combined didn't even feature in the final of a World Cup, leave out winning the tournament.