10 great athletes who have missed out on major trophies

In an ideal world, we get whatever we desire. But we live in a world far from ideal where everything should be earned by diligence. The careers of remarkable athletes world over represent this fact beautifully. They may have performed brilliantly on numerous occasions during the course of their career, but faltered in crucial moments to lose out on major silverware.Special Mentions:The likes of Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara, Sourav Ganguly, Mahela Jayawardena,Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara and many other legendary cricketers did not taste World Cup success.

#10 AB de Villiers

South Africa crashed out of the World Cup in heartbreaking fashion against New Zealand yesterday. While there was despair on the faces of South African players and their supporters, New Zealand celebrated as their team reached their first World Cup final.

None was more disappointed than South African skipper A B de Villiers. One of the finest batsmen of the modern game, de Villiers hit a quickfire 50 and was involved in a 103 run partnership with Faf du Plessis. The No. 1 batsman in One-day international cricket also bowled three overs when JP Duminy was conceding runs from one end.

He did all he could, but the rain gods had their say yet again. South Africa couldnt bat out their 50 overs and New Zealand chased down the target of 298 (Duckworth Lewis method) with a ball to spare.

de Villiers is 31 years old at the moment and it remains to be seen if he can win a World Cup before he retires.