These top cricketers never played in a World Cup!
What's the story
Over the years, we have seen many cricketers make a number of records. However, there are some legends who achieved the pinnacle of success in cricket, but failed to represent their country in the most prestigious tournament in cricket, the ICC Cricket World Cup. Let us have a look at some of such top cricketers.
VVS Laxman
An important member of India's 'Fab Four'
VVS Laxman was a legendary batsman, known for his aggressive strokes and impressive fielding tactics. Even with 8781 Test and 2338 ODI runs, he failed to make it to India's world cup squad three times in a row. Interestingly, he was not even included in the 2003 World Cup squad, when he was at prime of his career.
Matthew Hoggard
Key architect of England's 2005 Ashes win
One of the top wicket-takers in test matches for England, Matthew Hoggard has picked up 248 wickets from just 67 matches. While his spell during the 2005 Ashes helped England defeat the Aussies, he did not feature even in a single match in World Cup 2003 even though he was in the squad; and he retired before the 2007 world cup.
Justin Langer
Australia's one of the finest openers
Langer played 105 test matches for Australia, scoring 7696 runs at an average of just above 45 and was known for his great partnerships with fellow Australian Matthew Hayden. However, he did not get enough chances in the ODIs and ended up playing just eight 50-over matches. His last ODI came a decade before he retired from international cricket.
Chris Martin
New Zealand's third highest wicket-taker
In his test career of 13 years, Martin was the lead New Zealand pacer and is the third highest wicket taker in tests for his country, grabbing 233 wickets from 71 tests. However, his ODI form was not impressive, which led to his omission from the squad. He replaced injured Daryl Tuffey during the 2007 world cup, but did not get a game.
Alastair Cook
England's most successful test batsman
With 11000+ test runs and after captaining England for 69 ODIs, Alastair Cook is the only active player in our list. He has not represented England in the 50-over world cup, and was also not a part of the England team in world T20s. With his last ODI in 2014, it is unlikely that we will see him play in a world cup.