Suvam Pal's book "World Cup Trivia"
© NDTV
The mighty West Indies may have lost their charm and caliber in recent times, but there was an era when the Caribbeans walked the cricket fields like supermen. Almost every cricket record had a West Indian angle as men like Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd gave the best of bowlers the most torrid times of their lives. (Clarke vs McCullum, Warner vs Boult in Fight to Finish )
With the ICC World Cup 2015 all set for the summit clash, some of the most fascinating and interesting trivia related to past World Cup finals have been brilliantly 'trapped' in Suvam Pal's recently released book, The HarperCollins Book of World Cup Trivia. For its price (Rs 299), the book is a real value for money and a collector's item.
Below are some interesting gems that makes the game and its rich history irresistible. (Team India Arrive Home )
Kanhai's final hurrah
Rohan Kanhai was just a few months short of 40 when he was drafted into the 1975 World Cup-bound West Indies squad at the very last minute after legendary Gary Sobers pulled out due to an injury. The World Cup final was Kanhai's last international game and he rose to the occasion with a magnificent 55.
More importantly, his slow but steady innings was a perfect foil to Lloyd's blitzkrieg and the pair put together a 149-run partnership for the 4th wicket in 36 overs. Interestingly, with his captain firing on all cylinders, Kanhai stayed quiet at the other end and didn't score for 11-long overs.
Nine ducks in a World Cup Final!
Amidst Vivian Richards' destructive century, three West Indies batsmen failed to open their accounts in the 1979 final at Lord's. The Caribbean tail-enders -- Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Michael Holding -- were dismissed for a duck while the fourth of the pace quartet, Colin Croft failed to score any run from the two deliveries, remaining not out.
After their embarrassing outing with the bat, the quartet struck hard with the ball, dismissing five England batsmen without troubling the scorers. David Gower, Wayne Larkins, Chris Old, Bob Taylor and Mike Hendrick were out without scoring a single run to increase the overall tally of batsmen with a duck in the final to nine!
Valetta vanquishes England bowling
Mike Veletta was one of the most unlikely heroes of any World Cup final. The wicket-keeper batsman was the understudy of the regular Australian gloveman Greg Dyer. But Aussie skipper Allan Border played a gamble in the middle of the 1987 World Cup by including his second wicket keeper as to fill the slot of an extra batsman. There was no exception in the final and the gamble did pay off when it matter the most.
Veletta, who had scored 0, 43 and 48 in the tournament, came to the crease in the 39th over when three Australian wickets had fallen for 17 at Eden Gardens! The man, who had played only two ODIs in his career before the World Cup, came all guns blazing against the English bowlers in the slog overs and his blistering innings of 45 not out off 31 balls guided the Australia total to a respectable 253 for 5. This explosive cameo eventually made the difference with Australia winning the game by a narrow margin of 7 runs.
Perfect pilot for historic occasion
After Sri Lanka conquered the sixth World Cup, a special Air Lanka flight was sent to Lahore to get the heroes back. Interestingly, the captain of that flight was one of the premier batsmen and opener of the Sri Lankan team of the 1975 and 1979 World Cup, Sunil Wettimuny. The former cricketer-turned-commercial pilot welcomed the Lahore heroes to the flight.
Incidentally, Wettimuny was the top-scorer of the historic World Cup victory over India in 1979 while the Man of the Match of that game, Duleep Mendis, was the manager of the 1996-World Cup winning Sri Lankan team as Mendis accompanied victorious skipper Ranatunga inside the aircraft and later the duo posed with the silverware.
Gilly's century with a squash ball
Believe it or not, Adam Gilchrist actually stuffed a squash ball inside his glove to pulverise the Sri Lanka's bowlers with his match-winning 149 in the final in West Indies in 2007. The idea came from his batting coach and former Australian first-class cricketer Bob Meuleman, who was also Gilchrist's batting coach. It was Meuleman's suggestion to the explosive left-hander to put a squash ball in his bottom hand in the glove to help with his grip.
Incidentally, after training with the squash ball, Gilchrist decided to use it for the first time in the final only. To show his gratitude to Meuleman ,the Australian batsman waved towards the dressing room pointing out his glove after scoring the epic century at Barbados.
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