How many times have defending champions lifted the Men’s ODI World Cup?
Defending champions England are struggling in the 2023 World Cup in India. They have played five matches so far in the tournament, but have managed to win only one. England’s title defense began on a disastrous note as New Zealand hammered them by nine wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The Englishmen raised the hopes of their fans by defeating Bangladesh by 137 runs in their second 2023 World Cup match at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala. Batting first, they posted 364/9 and then bundled the opposition for 227. It has all gone downhill for England from there.
Jos Buttler and company have lost their last three matches, and that too by huge margins, severely denting their hopes of defending their title. They were stunned by Afghanistan by 69 runs in Delhi and subsequently went down to South Africa by 229 runs in Mumbai and to Sri Lanka by eight wickets in Bengaluru.
Tracing the performances of the defending champions in the ODI World Cup
It seems highly unlikely that England will go on to defend their ODI World Cup title. On that note, we look back at the history of the tournament to find out how many teams have managed to defend their one-day World Cup crown.
West Indies, who are not part of the ongoing edition, were the winners of the inaugural Men’s ODI World Cup in 1975. They beat Australia by 17 runs in the final Lord’s. The then-mighty Windies successfully defended their title, hammering England by 92 runs in the 1979 final at Lord’s.
West Indies reached the final in 1983 as well but ended up being stunned by underdogs India by 43 runs in a low-scoring summit clash at Lord’s. India could not defend their title when the World Cup moved to the sub-continent in 1987. They reached the semi-final in Mumbai, where they were knocked out by England, courtesy of a superb hundred from Graham Gooch.
Australia went on to lift the 1987 World Cup under Allan Border but had a disastrous campaign in 1992 when the World Cup was held in Australia and New Zealand. They failed to reach the semi-finals, winning only four of their eight league games. Pakistan won the World Cup, beating England by 22 runs in the final at the MCG.
Pakistan too failed to defend their crown. They were knocked out in the quarter-finals in 1996 in a tense clash against arch-rivals India in Bangalore [now Bengaluru]. Sri Lanka emerged champions for the first time, beating Australia by seven wickets in the final in Lahore.
The Lankans could not reclaim the world champion tag. They had a poor run in the 1999 edition in England. Sri Lanka won only two of their five group games and failed to qualify for the Super Six round. Australia became champions again, beating Pakistan by eight wickets in a one-sided final at Lord’s.
The Aussies became the first side since West Indies in 1979 to successfully defend their World Cup title. They hammered India by 125 runs in the 2003 World Cup final in Johannesburg. Australia made it a hat-trick of World Cup wins when they beat Sri Lanka by 53 runs [DLS method] in the 2007 final in Bridgetown.
No team has successfully defended their ODI World Cup title since 2007. Australia were knocked out in the quarter-final in Ahmedabad by eventual champions India in 2011. The Men in Blue then went down to Australia by 95 runs in the semi-final in 2015 in Sydney. The Aussies went on to win their fifth World Cup title by crushing New Zealand in the final by seven wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Australia failed to defend their ODI World Cup title when the ICC event was held in England in 2019. They reached the semi-final of the edition but were knocked out by England by eight wickets in a disappointingly one-sided encounter in Birmingham.
Having finished runners-up thrice (1979, 1987, and 1992), England finally won the ODI World Cup under Eoin Morgan’s shrewd leadership in 2019. They “beat” New Zealand in a sensational final at Lord’s.
The Kiwis batted first in the game and posted 241/8. England recovered from a precarious position to tie the scores courtesy of Ben Stokes’ unbeaten 84.
The 2019 ODI World Cup final went into the Super Over, but the teams could not be separated as they scored the same number of runs - 15. Eventually, England were declared “winners” on a bizarre boundary count rule.
In a nutshell, only three times have teams successfully defended their World Cup title - West Indies in 1979 and Australia in 2003 and 2007. It seems highly unlikely that England will go on to defend their crown.
Intriguingly, the hosts have won the last three editions of the ODI World Cup - India in 2011, Australia in 2015, and England in 2019.
Will India continue the tradition or will the trend end in 2023? We’ll have to wait and watch.