Sachin Tendulkar admitted that it was his dream to win the World Cup for India. Every cricketer dreams of lifting that trophy but only a few are lucky enough to lift it. Only 15 cricketers can make the squad for the World Cup so there are some legends that have never played in a World Cup.
So let us look at some of those unlucky legends of the game
5. Stuart MacGill
Stuart MacGill can consider himself as one of the most unlucky cricketers in history. The leg-spinner was unlucky to be born in the same era as one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Shane Warne. This meant that he got to play 44 Tests and three ODIs for Australia.
Australia had a potent pace attack which meant that they could afford to play with one spinner or no spinner. MacGill never got a chance to represent his country in the cricket’s biggest carnival.
4. Erapalli Prasanna
Erapalli Prasanna is recognized as one of the greatest off-spinners of all time. The Indian spinner was never afraid to flight the ball as he was always looking for wickets. He took 189 wickets in 49 Test matches for India but selectors never considered him for the ODI team.
He was an integral part of India’s spin quartet but sadly he never got to play on the cricket’s biggest stage.
3. Alastair Cook
Alastair Cook is among one of the best batsmen of his generation. The former England captain scored more than 12,000 runs in Test cricket and at one stage he seemed to have a chance to break records set by Sachin Tendulkar. While he was brilliant in Tests, Cook failed to translate that form to the shorter formats of the game.
Alastair Cook also captained his country after Andrew Strauss resigned from the post in the aftermath of the 2011 World Cup. After a string of poor performances, some critics raised doubts about his leadership qualities. In 2014, management removed him from ODI captaincy and he never played an ODI again.
2. Justin Langer
A lot of fans and pundits rate Langer among the greatest openers of all time in Test cricket. Langer and Mathew Hayden were one of the most feared opening pairs in the history of the game but in ODIs Gilchrist opened the innings with Hayden.
While Langer’s stats in Tests are very impressive, his record in the ODI format is very poor. There was a lot of competition in the Australian batting order which meant he got to play only eight ODIs and never played in a World Cup.
1. VVS Laxman
VVS Laxman is one of the most stylish batsmen in the history of the game. The “wrist magician” played 134 Tests for India over 16 years, where he played a lot of marathon innings. While Laxman was brilliant in Test format, his ODI career never took off.
He had a good chance to be included in the squad of the 2003 World Cup but he was overlooked. Indian captain Sourav Ganguly later admitted that it might have been a mistake to not include Laxman. The Hyderabad batsman considered quitting the sport after omission but later decided against it. Indian fans can just wonder what could have been if Laxman played in the 2003 World Cup final.
