Cricket World Cup History: 3 unsung heroes in World Cup history 

A 50-over Cricket World Cup that comes after every four years, is seen as an opportunity by players to make their mark in the International cricket. The tournament is rated highly and is watched keenly across the globe. It is usual that performances at such global events receive worldwide appreciation and are held in high regard in the time to come.

There have been occasions when an innings in a Final or a match-winning spell has won numerous accolades merely because of the magnitude of impact it caused on the game.

Be it Ricky Ponting’s hundred against India in the 2003 WC Final or Kapil Dev’s 175 in India’s league game against Zimbabwe in 1983 WC or Wasim Akram’s spell against England in 1992 WC Final, moments like these have been acknowledged by the entire fraternity.

However, there have been instances when players, even after performing considerably well, have slipped under the radar without much talk going around their names in the cricketing world.

Today we take a look at 3 such players who have been the unsung heroes in each of their team’s World Cup campaign:

#1 Roger Binny - For India in 1983

Roger Binny

A lot has been said about India’s dream run at the World Cup of 1983, from being minnows to defeating the giant-killers West Indies in the Final at Lord’s to clinch the title for the first time in their cricketing history. However, not many know that behind India’s inspirational run was India’s, and in fact tournament’s leading wicket-taker Roger Binny.

His tally of 18 wickets in 8 matches was the major factor that the Indian bowling attack could restrict some of the batting heavy sides to below par totals in most of the games.

The seam-bowling all-rounder was always amongst the wickets and became India’s go-to man by the end of the season. He registered his best bowling figures in a virtual quarter-final against Australia, claiming 4-for to bundle out the opposition for merely 129 runs, giving India a huge victory and a ticket for the Semis against England.

#2 Andrew Symonds - For Australia in 2003

Andrew Symonds was a crucial part of the Australian setup

For a major part of his career, Andrew Symonds was viewed as a controversial guy with a new story that would pop out each day with him being the central figure. However, only a few remember him as one of the better ODI players for Australia. Making debut in the late 90s, Symonds saw an inconsistent start to his career as he was dropped after a patchy run of scores.

However, his skipper Ricky Ponting invested faith in him by picking Symonds for the World Cup in 2003. This was the turning point in his career as he could live up to the expectations by emerging as the fourth highest run-getter for his team. His innings of 143 against Pakistan in their opening clash at World Cup in 2003, instilled a certain belief in his ability and the reliable depth in their batting order. He scored 326 runs in 5 innings with some invaluable knocks at crucial moments in the tournament.

#3 Suresh Raina – For India in 2011

Suresh Raina

If there was ever a question of what commitment meant to cricket, Suresh Raina was the perfect answer to it. A top fielder and an all-rounder on his day, Raina was India’s unsung-hero in their World Cup triumph in 2011. He stood tall during and delivered when it mattered the most.

Being a lower-order batsman, Raina struggled to make it to the playing XI for the first part of India’s campaign. But given the opportunity, he proved his worth by invaluable contributions with the bat.

His innings of 34* against Australia in the Quarter-Finals at Ahmedabad might be his best ever cameo to take India home. He managed to stitch a partnership with Yuvraj Singh ensuring no further hiccup before reaching the finishing line. He bettered this feat by another match-defining 36* in the Semi-Final against Pakistan to help India post a formidable total to defend.