From 1975 to 2015: A look at changing times for the World Cup

Crickets flutter of butterfly wings happened at Lord’s on June 25, 1983, when India, 66-1 outsiders before the tournament began, beat West Indies to win the World Cup. Across the 17 days that the tournament was played, 232,081 had come through the turnstiles, and apart from the big trophy, Kapil Dev’s team were left richer by 20,000. India go into the 11th World Cup, in Australia and New Zealand, as defending champions. The competition is, however, almost unrecognisable from what it was a generation ago. If the United Arab Emirates, featuring two 43 year olds in Khurram Khan and Mohammad Tauqir, fail to quality for the last eight, they will still take home US$35,000. The winners will earn US$3,975,000. [caption id=“attachment_2096593” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  There is genuine hope that the current NZ side, led by Brendon McCullum, can go one further as they have a formidable pace array, and a world-class spinner in Dan Vettori.Getty[/caption] The organisers have already shifted more than 825,000 tickets, of the 1.4 million made available. Matches like the one between India and Pakistan in Adelaide on February 15 were sold out months ago, and those that planned late will have to be content with hotel rooms almost an hour away from the city. The TV audience for the tournament is likely to be well in excess of one billion. Only the football World Cup commands greater fervour from its followers. On the field, its hard to look beyond the usual suspects. Of the previous winners, West Indies (1975 and 79) and Sri Lanka (1996) are unlikely to feature in the final stages. As for India (1983 and 2011) and Pakistan (1992), they will have to improve appreciably on their recent form to be contenders. That leaves Australia (1987, 99, 2003 and 07). When they co-hosted the event in 1992, they didnt make the semifinals. The players and team management have stressed repeatedly that they have learned from the mistakes made in that campaign. Australia recently cruised unbeaten through a Tri Series featuring India and England, having previously routed South Africa 4-1 on home soil. The pace attack featuring the two Mitchells, Johnson and Starc, Josh Hazlewood, James Faulkner and Pat Cummins is peerless, and theyre as dangerous with the bat, with David Warner in axe-man form. The dark horses will be the other hosts. Back in 1992, New Zealand rode on Martin Crowes sublime batsmanship and out-of-the-box captaincy to top the league table. Pakistan thwarted them in the last four, but there is genuine hope that the current vintage, led by Brendon McCullum, can go one further. They too have a formidable pace array, and a world-class spinner in Dan Vettori. That leaves South Africa, whose World Cup soundtrack since their return from the apartheid-era wilderness in 1992 could well be Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. The scars of past failures cut deep, but in AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, they have the best batsmen in the world. Dale Steyn is the worlds most accomplished bowler by a distance. If they can overcome the mental block that seems to paralyse them on the global stage, they will lift the trophy on March 29. The World Cup isn’t just about winners and dark horses though. The lesser nations have often provided moments to savour. Zimbabwe beat Australia in 1983, Kenya who have fallen away since reaching the semis in 2003 bested West Indies in 1996 and Ireland have upset both Pakistan (2007) and England (2011). This year, the Cinderella side will be Afghanistan, whose progress over the past decade has been nothing short of astonishing. Back in March 2006, they were playing the Marylebone Cricket Club at the Police Gymkhana on Marine Drive in Mumbai. Mohammad Nabi, who kept whacking the ball on to the Western Railway track that afternoon, now leads the side. Hamid Hassan, with his Rambo hair band and face paint, is the best bowler outside the established nations, despite having wrecked his left knee in 2012. Millions will follow their progress back home. The UAE, whose captain, Sultan Zarawani, was hit on the head by an Allan Donald bouncer in 1996, will also command attention. In Krishna Chandran, a Palghat native who arrived in the UAE in 2010, they have one of the more evocatively named players in the tournament. He is also known as Krishna Karate. Time will tell whether he and his teammates can knock out one of the big boys as crickets biggest carnival takes centre stage for the next six weeks. Wisden India.