Six times when big teams were knocked out in first round of World Cup

Lifting the title in the World Cup and impressing everyone with the performance is a dream for almost all top cricket-playing countries. Although, there is only one team that lifts the title while others finish in the respective positions. This major international tournament organized by cricket’s governing body is scheduled to be played after every two or four years.

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Along with the change in years, the World Cup also witnesses the change in the participating teams, venues, host country, and other similar things. Within the last 15 years, there have been six moments in the World Cup of either format when some bigger teams got crashed only in the first round of the tournament.

So, without further ado, here we’ll have a look at those six occasions when this unpredictable outcome turned out to be real.

1. India – Knocked out of ODI World Cup 2007

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The Indians were participating in the 2007 World Cup played in the West Indies as the runners-up of the previous edition of 2003 played in South Africa. This time, India visited the Caribbean Islands to play in the World Cup with a new captain, Rahul Dravid. Earlier, the team was led by Sourav Ganguly in the World Cup of 2003.

The fans were expecting a fine outing from team India but unfortunately, the men in blue’s campaign in the 2007 World Cup drastically ended in the group stage only. Rahul Dravid’s men lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the first round of the tournament.

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2. Pakistan – Knocked out of ODI World Cup 2007

The men in green were participating in the ninth edition of the ODI World Cup under the captaincy of legendary batter Inzamam-ul-Haq. Pakistani team has some great hope from the star-studded lineup, but they couldn’t capitalize on their talent in the tournament.

Eventually, Inzamam & co. lost their first-round matches to then-minnows Ireland and the hosts West Indies. It resulted in the elimination of another South Asian giant after India from the World Cup 2007.

3. West Indies – Knocked out of 20-20 World Cup 2007

The inaugural edition of the 20-20 World Cup in 2007 was played on South African soil. It was the second major international event South Africa was hosting after the ODI World Cup of 2003. West Indies was also a part of the tournament and one of the biggest teams among the teams like India, South Africa, and Australia.

But things went extremely south for West Indies as they got knocked out of the tournament from the group stage itself. The Caribbean side lost both group matches against South Africa and Bangladesh respectively.

4. Australia – Knocked out of T20 World Cup 2009

The second edition of the 20-20 World Cup played 13 years back in 2009 was like a surprise for the bigger teams as the defending champions India lost their all matches in the super-8 round and couldn’t make it to the semi-finals of the tournament.

Whereas, the most successful team in World Cups, Australia had a devastating outing in the 20-20 World Cup 2009 played in England. Australia lost their group matches while playing against Sri Lanka and West Indies.

5. England – Knocked out of ODI World Cup 2015

It was the 11^th edition of the marquee tournament organized by cricket’s governing body. Australia and New Zealand were the two host nations for the ODI World Cup 2015. Apart from discussing other teams, this World Cup was like a nightmare for one of the strongest teams, England.

Eoin Morgan’s men could win only two matches out of six. They could defeat only the minnows like Afghanistan and Scotland. Eventually, the three lions were eliminated from the first round of the 11^th edition of the ODI World Cup.

6. West Indies – Knocked out of the 20-20 World Cup 2022

The Caribbean team registered their name twice in this list of humiliation for big teams. They were forced to play the qualifier round in the ongoing 20-20 World Cup 2022 despite the fact that they are two-time champions in the World Cup of the shortest format.

The Nicholas Pooran-led side was in Australia without having big names in the squad including the likes of Andre Russell, Suni Narine, Kieron Pollard, etc. West Indies lost their first-round matches to Scotland and Ireland and made their way back home after being eliminated without playing the super-12 round.