50 fascinating facts about World Cups - Part 4

After his dismissal in the quarter-final of the 2011 World Cup against Australia, Sachin Tendulkar was getting a massage done in the dressing room. Virender Sehwag was alongside him. The duo never moved from where they were. Tendulkar prayed non-stop and India went on to win the game. In the final too, a superstitious Tendulkar decided to do the same. He made sure Sehwag was right next to him and also stopped him from going to the gallery to watch the winning moment live, suggesting that he can watch the replay a number of times later. It was only after MS Dhoni hit the winning six that Tendulkar and Sehwag moved from their positions and they were the last to run onto the field to join the celebrations.

Men for the big occasion

Mohinder Amarnath (1983), Aravinda De Silva (1996) and Shane Warne (1999) hold the unique record of winning Man of the Match awards in both semifinal and final of the World Cup games.

A miscalculation marks South Africa's exit

Rain came back to haunt South Africa again. Heavy rain at Durban forced the umpires to stop the game after 45 overs. The hosts needed 40 runs off the last 5 overs with 4 wickets in hand, but inclement weather played spoilsport and no more play was possible. At 229/6, South Africa thought they were ahead on D/L but were later informed that they needed to score 230. This meant that the game ended in a tie, when South Africa needed a win to progress to the next round.

When Kapil Dev's wife went for shopping thinking India would lose

India were given nil chance of upstaging West Indies in the 1983 World Cup final, so much so that Kapil Dev's wife expected defeat and went shopping. Fortunes turned and how!

Inspirational Imran asks Inzi to forget fever and play the semifinal

After suffering from high fever on the night before Pakistan's 1992 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand, Inzamam-ul-Haq told captain Imran Khan that he was not 100% sure of playing the game. However, Imran simply asked him to think about playing the semifinal and nothing else. Inzamam played the match and smashed a stunning 37-ball 60 and was adjudged the Man of the Match.

A shocking revelation from Madan Lal

"I was not supposed to bowl the over in which I dismissed Viv Richards," expressed Madan Lal, several years after the 1983 World Cup final. Perhaps, destiny wanted the underdogs to become top dogs.

A struggle that ended a career

West Indies left-handed batsman Keith Arthurton eked out just 2 runs in 5 innings in the 1996 World Cup after which his international career nosedived.

Pakistan end Australia's rampaging streak

Australia's 34-match unbeaten streak in World Cups was ended by Pakistan in 2011. During that sequence, Australia won three titles, beat 15 different opponents and used 34 players.

The oldest to play the World Cup

In 1996, Nolan Clarke of the Netherlands became the oldest player (47 years, 257 days) to play in a World Cup.

The first ever hat-trick in the history of World Cups

Chetan Sharma dismissed Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Chatfield off successive deliveries in 1987, thus recording the first ever hat-trick in the history of World Cups. It was also the first hat-trick by an Indian in ODIs.

Superstitious Sachin forces Sehwag to be glued to his seat