50 fascinating facts about World Cups - Part 2

Sachin Tendulkar returned from his father's funeral in India the day before and hit a splendid 100 against Kenya at Bristol in the 1999 World Cup. He was given a standing ovation when he made his entry into the ground. He went on to record an unbeaten 237-run stand with Rahul Dravid, then the highest partnership for the third wicket in ODIs.

After carting Venkatesh Prasad for a boundary during the 1996 World Cup quarterfinal match against India, Pakistan's Aamer Sohail showed the direction in which he hit the ball to Prasad, gesturing him to go and fetch it. Prasad returned strongly the next ball by knocking over Sohail's off stump and signalled him to walk back to the dressing room. Eventually, India went on to clinch the high-voltage clash and progress to the semifinal.

Walking out without a helmet, Sultan Zarawani, UAE's captain and their only native-born player in the side, was hit on the head by a brutal Allan Donald bouncer. Despite being pinged on the head, Zarawani refused to wear the helmet and batted for a few more minutes before being dismissed. Recalling the incident, Donald said that he thought he had killed the batsman.

Javed Miandad returned to international cricket just 10 days after announcing his retirement in 1994. Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had a discussion with Miandad, after which the star batsman decided to change his mind. Featuring in the 1996 World Cup, Miandad became the first cricketer to play six World Cups.

During the 2007 World Cup final, Adam Gilchrist used a squash ball in his bottom hand glove to enhance the grip and prevent the bat from turning in his hands. It was his batting coach, Bob Meuleman, who had advised Gilchrist to use the foreign object for better grip. After getting to his hundred, Gilchrist credited his coach by raising his left hand and pointing to the squash ball.

Unable to digest their team's dismal show in a 2011 World Cup Group match against West Indies, angry Bangladeshi fans stoned the West Indies team bus, which was making its way back to the hotel from the ground. It was later said that the fans mistook the West Indies bus to the Bangladesh bus. Bangladesh were bowled out for 58, their lowest total in ODIs.

Virender Sehwag got off the mark with a first-ball-four in each of India's first four matches of the group stages in the 2011 World Cup.

Interestingly, left-arm pacer Sunil Valson became the first player to win a World Cup without even featuring in a single game. Valson was selected in the Indian squad for the 1983 World Cup, but he never got a game in the tournament. Ironically, he was never picked for India again.

In the 1992 World Cup, Dipak Patel proved that spinners could be a surprise weapon with the new ball. Opening the bowling, the Kenyan-born off-spinner, who played for Worcestershire, before moving to New Zealand, was the most economical bowler in the tournament (for a minimum of 15 overs bowled). His figures in the tournament read: 79-8-245-8 at an economy rate of 3.10.

Prior to the tournament, Australia skipper Allan Border said, "India and Pakistan are favourites. We are the dark horses." However, the dark horses went on to lift the 1987 World Cup. Australia then became the first team to accomplish a hat-trick, winning the 1999, 2003 and 2007 World Cups.