Players who have won the ODI World Cup title without playing a game

Winning the World Cup is every player’s dream, especially the ODI World Cup, which keeps the 50-over cricket relevant. Some players couldn’t tick it off their bucket list despite being all-time greats. 

Then some players have clinched the title without playing a single game in their team’s victorious campaign. Fortunate or unfortunate? You decide that. But here is a list of players who have been part of the World Cup winning sides without playing a single game. 

Malcolm Marshall - 1979

With over 500 international wickets, the late Malcolm Marshall was one of the most threatening fast bowlers in the last quarter of the 20th century. Ask any batter of that era about the toughest bowler they faced and many would take Marshall’s name with a lump in their throat. Sunil Gavaskar is one of those.

Hence, it is surprising that someone as potent as Marshall was benched throughout West Indies’ victorious World Cup campaign in 1979. 

The right-arm seamer was fairly new to international cricket back then. West Indies already had an established quartet of pacers - Michael Holding, Colin Croft, Joel Garner and Andy Roberts. All of them were four to seven years older than Marshall. 

Only 21 years old at the start of the 1979 World Cup, Marshall was picked as a backup. He had played only three Tests until then with his ODI debut coming in 1980. The Barbadian was a World Cup winner as one of the three non-playing members of the side (alongside Faoud Bacchus and the spinner Larry Gomes) but in 1983, he snapped 12 wickets in six matches. However, this time, West Indies lost the final by 43 runs. 

Sunil Valson - 1983

This is a great trivia question. India’s 14-man squad in the 1983 edition lifted their first World Cup trophy. India played 13 players across the competition. The one who didn’t feature a single game in the competition was Sunil Valson. 

India’s bowling attack was loaded with seam-bowling all-rounders which played a big part in their triumph. Kapil Dev, Kirti Azad, Roger Binny and Madan Lal, all had multiple first-class hundreds to their name. Balwinder Sandhu, the other seamer who played all eight matches, also had a highest first-class score of 98. 

In India’s bid to deepen their batting resources, Valson was benched throughout the tournament. The then 24-year old was the only left-arm pacer in India’s squad and averaged under 10 in both first-class and List-A cricket. Fast forward to modern times, India yearn for a left-arm seamer. 

Guess Valson was born in the wrong era as he never made his debut for India in any format. But in one of the sweetest memories of his career, Valson had a World Cup medal around his neck in the Lord’s balcony on June 25, 1983. 

Marvan Atapattu - 1996

Marvan Atapattu was a prominent name in Sri Lanka’s batting line-up in late 1990s and early 2000s. However, he had a difficult start to his international career due to which he was always in and out of the side. 

Atappattu made his debut in 1990. His first six Test scores read 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, rendering a Test average of 0.16 in three Tests spanning four years. In ODIs, he averaged 10.75 in seven ODIs between 1990 and 1992. 

Scoring runs in domestic cricket, Atapattu stayed in contention for the national team and was part of the 1996 Sri Lanka squad that won the World Cup. But with players like Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Roshan Mahanama, Hashan Tillakaratne and Sanath Jayasuriya rising through the ranks, Atapattu couldn’t break into the XI. 

It was only in late 1996 when the right-hander found his rhythm at the highest level and went on to mount over 13,000 international runs. Upul Chandana was the other non-playing member of the squad. 

Nathan Bracken - 2003

Nathan Bracken, a permanent member of Australia’s victorious 2007 World Cup squad, was known for his blonde hair, a mean slower ball and clinching the number one bowling ranking in ODI cricket. However, the left-arm seamer was one of the two non-playing members of the  2003 squad. 

Bracken was announced as the replacement for Jason Gillespie who was injured during the tournament. While Bracken joined the squad, Australia replaced Gillespie in the XI with Andy Bichel. Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Bichel maintained excellent form and fitness throughout the tournament. Australia, staying unbeaten through the tournament, didn’t change the winning combination. Thus, Bracken couldn’t sneak into the XI. 

On a similar note, Brad Hogg’s decent form meant that Nathan Hauritz, announced as the replacement for Shane Warne, accompanied Bracken on the bench. 

Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin - 2007 

You see Mitchell Johnson’s name in Australia’s 2007 World Cup squad and you would presume he would have had a telling contribution in the Aussies’ treble win. However, the left-arm seamer lost his spot to his junior, Shaun Tait. 

Johnson made his ODI debut in late 2005 and pouched 26 wickets in 18 ODIs until the World Cup arrived. On the other hand, Tait made his debut in early 2007, going into the World Cup with an experience of only four ODIs. In three of them, he went at an economy of 6 or more. 

While Johnson built his career on intimidating batters with his pace and bounce, Tait had a few miles extra up his sleeves. Brett Lee was ruled out and Ricky Ponting wanted a pacer who would focus on sheer pace, irrespective of the outcome. As a result, Tait played all the games, forming a fast bowling trio along with McGrath and Bracken. Such was Johnson’s plight that Stuart Clark, the injury replacement to Lee, was picked ahead of him when Bracken was unavailable for selection in one game. 

Brad Haddin was another non-playing member of the squad. In symphony with his Test career, Haddin had to wait for Adam Gilchrist to hang his boots for a regular chance in the XI. 

Both Johnson and Haddin were regular members of Australia’s 2011 World Cup XIs. 

Tom Curran, Liam Dawson - 2019

Given Tom Curran’s international career has not prospered yet (till the time of writing this), it is not surprising that he was a non-playing member of England’s maiden ODI World Cup triumph in 2019. Moreover, England’s fast-bowling resources were stocked with Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes in the 15-man squad. Curran was always the last in the pecking order. 

You have to feel bad for Liam Dawson too. The left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder was with the England squad almost throughout Eoin Morgan’s reign as captain. However, he was always the backup player and the same was the case in the 2019 World Cup - he kept waiting for his chance. 

Despite being in contention for seven years - from 2016 to 2022 - Dawson featured in only three Tests, six ODIs and 11 T20Is which speaks for his misfortune.