Winning the cricket world cup is one thing, defending it completely another. Not many teams, in the history of cricket, have been able to defend the title, including India. As world cup 2019 starts, here we take a look back at cricket world cup defending champions who defended the title successfully.
West Indies Defended the Cricket World Cup Title (1979)
In the first ever world cup way back in 1975, West Indies beat Australia to claim first ever world cup champions title. In 1979, West Indies hit the ground as defending champions and successfully defended their title by beating England in the final.
But they could not defend world cup title again as they lost 1983 final to India, giving the world its new champions. India, in turn, lost the title to Australia in 1987, and Australia lost it to Pakistan in 1992 cricket world cup.
Pakistan again could not defend the title as Sri Lanka take over the title of world champions in 1996. Until now only West Indies could defend the title.
Australia Defended Cricket World Cup Twice (2003, 2007)
Then came 1999 cricket world cup and Australia beat Pakistan in the finals to win their second world cup title. They did it again in 2003 and 2007, hence defending the title twice, before losing it eventually to India in the cricket world cup 2011 final.
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But the Australian who scripted it all is Ricky Pointing, without doubt, one of the most successful cricketers of the world, both as batsman and captain. The three consecutive world cup wins had seen him captain the side to victories in 2003 and 2007.
MS Dhoni, Most Successful India Captain could not defend Title in 2015
India under the captaincy of MS Dhoni won 2011 CWC and reached semi-final in cricket world cup 2015, which they lost to Australia. Cricket world cup 2015 final gave Australia its fifth title. Unfortunately, India could not defend their title even after remaining unbeaten in the first seven matches in the mega tournament.
Can Defending Champions Australia Do it the 3rd Time?
So Australia is the current cricket world cup defending champions and would try hard to defend the title successfully. As a team, they look in total control of the game if that is what one can deduce from their recent ODI games: first winning series in India, beating India in their own den, and then whitewashing Pakistan in UAE.
As cricket world cup 2019 takes place in England and Wales, Australia needs to be on top of their game to defend their title the third time. However, if Champions Trophy 2017 is anything to go by, Australia`s chances look bleak as they under-performed in that tournament also held in England.