1975-2019 Cricket World Cups

The most familiar discussion of this summer is the Cricket World Cup held in England and Wales.World Cups are a different stage altogether ,whether it be Cricket or football or any other game.The biggest stage in any sport isa widely discussed topic nowadays.But very few of us know the history of Cricket World Cups. The first one was held in England in 1975.But if one has to compare between the games of the 1975 tournament and the 2019 ones,we will be awfully surprised that even the length of overs was different ,the qualifying procedure was unlike now.The broadcast of the world cup was from behind the batsman angle. Cameras used to be expensive - VERY expensive, back then one camera and its crew would eat up over half the TV company’s budget. Therefore one camera was all they had, so it was set up at one end, and you would get alternating overs from the batsmens and the bowlers end. When companies could afford multiple cameras, the ‘behind the bowler’ angle was chosen to be broadcasted .

The Test-playing nations qualify automatically for the World Cup main event while the other teams have to qualify through a series of preliminary qualifying tournaments.The 1987 world cup first saw this angle of broadcast introduced in cricket.The 1992 World cup first saw the change of jerseys of different teams from white to their team colours . How many people know whythe 4 year gap from 87-91 was not maintained and the next one was shifted92.?The answer is thatthe World cup can be held only during playing season. So it is counted 4 summers of the (next-)hosting nation later. So the 1992 world cup was actually held in 1991/92 season since it was hosted by New Zealand/Australia therefore it had to be hosted in between November & March, so it was hosted in Jan/Feb.Later it was compensated by hosting the Cricket world cup in 1999 instead of 2000.Every world cup has its moments.The 1996 world cup was marked as one of the most shocking incidents in cricket as the semi final between India and Srilanka was abandoned due to the reaction of the crowd because they threw stones and set some parts of the stadium into fire.

The 99 world cup changed the qualifyingprocedure by introducing the round robin format instead of group stages.

The security and political situation inZimbabwe , was a point of concern before the tournament.2003 world cup was famous because of these facts. Two Zimbabwean players,Andy FlowerandHenry Olongawore black armbandsin their opening game protesting against the nondemocratic rule in Zimbabwe. Both men subsequently retired from Zimbabwean cricket, and began playing overseas. England faced a great deal of domestic pressure to boycott their match in Zimbabwe on political grounds and did not play, citing fears for the players' safety.

2011 world cup saw the introduction of DRS review system.Australia have dominated world cups by winning 5 of them and India and West indieswinning2 of them.Cricket world cups always have their moments but it is really beautiful to see that not only there have been changes but they have occurred for the good. They have always been a source of entertainment ,emotions and love for the country.