Ahead of Kapil Dev’s 175 knock in 1983 against Zimbabwe, Adam Gilchrist’s ton three years ago in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka has been named as the best 100 to have ever been seen in the World Cup..
Kapil Dev’s unbeaten 175 at Tunbridge Wells, which rescued India from a precarious 17 for five and paved way for their triumph in the final against West Indies, has been rated the second best, as per the Castrol Index Ratings.
The panelists discussed the best ever performances in the World Cup cricket at a function, where Castrol ratings were released on Friday.
While former India skipper Ravi Shastri and International Cricket Council (ICC)’s chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat picked up former Sri Lankan batsman Aravinda D’Silva’s unbeaten ton in the 1996 World Cup final against Australia as the best, another panelist Harsha Bhogle chose former West Indian skipper Clive Lloyd’s ton (102) against England in the first World Cup final at Lord’s as the ultimate.
Ravi Shastri justified his choice of D’Silva, saying “With the innings, D’Silva showed that he was a big match player. It was a run chase, never done before, against Australia in a pressure situation.”
Echoing Shastri’s sentiments, Lorgat said, “They (Sri Lankans) were kind of new kids on the block. Aravinda’s innings won them the World Cup against all the odds.”
“Aravinda’s knock came during a run-chase when the team had already lost a couple of early wickets. He was the main man then. His team had never won a major tournament before,”
“While Gilchrist had won World Cup before. Besides, he knew the team had quality batsmen to follow after him,” Shastri said.