In the 12 World Cup editions so far, twenty different countries have participated at least once. As a result, the number of cricketers to have played the Cricket World Cup is pretty large. Most of the cricketers failed to mark in these tournaments and hence are not known for their World Cup performances.
On the other hand, some of the international players, who are legends, also went on to become World Cup legends. Only 2 cricketers so far have played in 6 different editions of the World Cup, Javed Miandad (Pakistan) and Sachin Tendulkar (India).
Find the detailed list of highest matches played in the Cricket World Cup by a cricketer -
Most Number of Appearances In World Cup
| Position | Player | Team | Span | Matches |
| 1 | Ricky Ponting | Australia | 1996-2011 | 46 |
| 2 | Sachin Tendulkar | India | 1992-2011 | 45 |
| 3 | Mahela Jayawardene | Sri Lanka | 1999-2015 | 40 |
| 4 | Muttiah Muralitharan | Sri Lanka | 1996-2011 | 40 |
| 5 | Glenn McGrath | Australia | 1996-2007 | 39 |
| 6 | Sanath Jayasuriya | Sri Lanka | 1992-2007 | 38 |
| 7 | Wasim Akram | Pakistan | 1987-2003 | 38 |
| 8 | Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 2003-2015 | 37 |
| 9 | Jacques Kallis | South Africa | 1996-2011 | 36 |
| 10 | Aravinda de Silva | Sri Lanka | 1987-2003 | 35 |
| 11 | Chris Gayle | West Indies | 2003-2019 | 35 |
| 12 | Inzamam-ul-Haq | Pakistan | 1992-2007 | 35 |
However, when it comes down to the most number of World Cup matches played, Australian batsman Ricky Ponting is above all. The legendary right-handed batsman has played 46 matches in the World Cup from 1996 to 2011. India’s Sachin Tendulkar is ranked second with 45 matches from 1992 to 2011.
Sri Lankan legends Mahela Jayawardene and Muttiah Muralitharan are the only two other cricketers to have played 40 or more World Cup matches.
Five Sri Lankans find themselves in the list of the Top 10 cricketers to feature in most World Cup matches played.
Also read - Biggest world cup win
