World Cup History: Four times an Indian batsman was the highest scorer in the tournament
As time has progressed, the domination of the bat over the ball has constantly increased. While it is also important to have good bowlers, the presence of some great batsmen makes the job easier for the team
The Indian team has always been blessed with some world-class batsmen and the team has mostly relied on the run scorers for their success in international cricket. So it is not a surprise that Indian batsmen have topped the batting charts a number of times in the cricket World Cup.
The Indian fans had to wait until 1996 to see one of their own being the highest-scorer in a World Cup. Since then there have been three more instances of an Indian batsman sitting on the top of the leaderboard. Let us have a look at each of those four special occasions for Indian fans.
#1 Sachin Tendulkar - 523 runs (1996)
Before the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid came along, the Indian batting line up was completely dependent on Sachin Tendulkar. The "Master Blaster" had to carry to the burden of the team in the first half of the 1990s and he rarely disappointed.
The legendary batsman scored two centuries and three fifties in the tournament as he helped the Indian team in reaching the semi-finals. The tournament of India and Tendulkar ended with heartbreak as they lost to the eventual winners Sri Lanka.
Chasing a target of 252 on a square turner, Tendulkar was holding the Indian innings together. Once he got out for 65, Indian innings collapsed as they lost seven wickets for 22 runs before crowd interrupted the match. The match was abandoned and Sri Lanka was declared as the winners.
Also read – World cup winners list