Top 3 teams with the most number of ICC titles since 2000

Winning World titles in any sports is an arduous task. It requires extensive planning and tremendous execution of the skills as a group to come out on top when it actually matters the most.

At the turn of the new millennium, we used to have two ICC events- Champions Trophy (every two years) and the 50-over World Cup (every four years). But, with the addition of T20 cricket in 2003, we now have at least one World event every year.

Post-2000 there have been 17 ICC events (ICC World Cup- 4, ICC Champions Trophy- 7, ICC WT20- 6) held all across the globe, and there have been few teams who've managed to forge an incredible sense of consistency and panache when it mattered the most.

With the 2019 World Cup just ten months away, let us today, look back at the top three teams with the most ICC titles win since 2000.

Here's my compilation:-

#1 Australia (5)

ICC Cricket World Cup- 3, 2003, 2007, 2015

ICC Champions Trophy- 2, 2006, 2009

ICC World T20- 0

At numero uno of this coveted list are the reigning 50-over World Champions, Australia.

The most successful team in the history of ODI cricket, Australia has won five 50-over World Cup's, three of which have been achieved post-2000. The Kangaroos, under Ponting, remained unbeaten en-route to back-to-back title wins in 2003 and 2007, defeating India (by 125 runs) and Sri Lanka (by 53 runs, D/L) what were highly one-sided finals.

High-profile retirements of the core of their team in Gilchrist, Hayden, and McGrath meant Australia had an underwhelming 2011 World Cup, before they rallied again four years later under Micheal Clarke, to regain the crown in front of 90,000 plus people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Having said that, the new millennium didn't start all that well for the Aussies. A Quarterfinal loss to India in ICC Knockout 2000 was followed by an even more insipid showing in the 2002 event. After four unsuccessful attempts at the Champions Trophy, Ponting & co finally got it right as they notched up back-to-back title wins, defeating West Indies in 2006 and overcoming their traditional rivals across the Tasman, New Zealand three years (2009) later in South Africa.

While an elusive World T20 trophy still awaits them, there is no doubt that if there is one team that knows how to win World events-- it's Australia.

Read:- World ODI XI that can beat Australia

#2 India (3.5)

ICC Cricket World Cup- 1, 2011

ICC Champions Trophy- 1.5, Joint Winners, 2002, Champions, 2013

ICC World T20- 1, 2007

Following the match-fixing scandal, Indian Cricket was in dire-straits when Sourav Ganguly was handed over the reigns in early 2000. Ganguly had an incredible eye for talent scouting and around the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, and Kumble, he was successful in injecting prodigious talents like Sehwag, Yuvraj, Kaif, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Nehra, and MS Dhoni.

Early signs were promising when India went on to reach the finals of ICC Knockout 2000, but it was only in the summer of 2002 when the Indian team truly announced himself. Two young boys in Yuvraj and Mohammed Kaif took India from the brink (5-146 to 8-326) against England in the Natwest Finals but Ganguly stole the show with his 'waving the shirt' antics from the Lord's balcony. Ganguly's antics was a sign of a new India- a young and confident India.

The Natwest Trophy heist was followed by hugely successful Champions Trophy campaign (shared with Lanka due to a rain-washout in the finals) culminating into a final finish at the 2003 World Cup. Then, MS Dhoni happened.

If Ganguly injected fearlessness into the Indian team, Dhoni infused calmness. As a result, India, under Dhoni went on to win the inaugural World Twenty20 (2007), ODI World Cup (2011, after 28 years), and Champions Trophy in 2013. Thus, becoming the only team to win a 20-over World Cup (2007), 50-over World Cup (2011), and a 60-over World Cup (1983). Dhoni also became the first captain to win champions in all the three formats of the game.

Also Read:- Five memorable matches of ICC World T20

#3 West Indies (3)

ICC Cricket World Cup- 0

ICC Champions Trophy- 1, 2004

ICC World Twenty20- 2, 2012, 2016

Even though they've been on a downward spiral for a better part of the past 25 years, the West Indies have always found a way to bring their 'A' game when it matters the most.

While they missed out on last year's Champions Trophy, the West Indians did win it way back in 2004 under the leadership of Brian Lara. And then Twenty 20 arrived-- a format in unison with the Caribbean brand of cricket; colourful, fast, and 'sexy'.

There is one common denominator that connects all three title-winning heist of the Windies. On all three occasions, the Windies found a match-winner when they were dead and buried. It was Courtney Browne (35) and Ian Bradshaw's (34) partnership in 2004 that took them home against England after they had been reduced to 6-114 while chasing 218.

The 2012 WT20 final saw Marlon Samuels (56-ball-78) calculated assault against Sri Lanka, and off-course Carlos Brathwaite's four consecutive sixes in the last over, when the Windies required 19, all the three finals have given cricket fans an edge-of-a-seat thriller, reminiscent of their glory days.