To counter the popular belief that a country with more population will be able to produce better cricket stars on account of the law of proportions, here are some interesting statistics comparing the performance of various cricketing nations with their population in descending order:
Country | Population (in %) | ICC Rank(before World Cup) | World Cup Winners | Runners up |
India | 17.51 | 2 | 1983,2011(Host) | 2003 |
Pakistan | 2.54 | 6 | 1992 | 1999 |
Bangladesh | 2.18 | 9 | - | - |
England | 0.738 | 5 | - | 1979(Host), 1987, 1992 |
South Africa | 0.72 | 4 | - | - |
Kenya | 0.56 | 13 | - | - |
Canada | 0.5 | - | - | - |
Australia | 0.32 | 1 | 1987,1999,2003,2007 | 1975, 1996 |
Sri Lanka | 0.3 | 3 | 1996 | 2007,2011(Host) |
Netherlands | 0.241 | 12 | - | - |
Zimbabwe | 0.18 | 11 | - | - |
Ireland | 0.065 | 10 | - | - |
New Zealand | 0.064 | 7 | - | - |
West Indies | 0.045 | 8 | 1975,1979 | 1983 |
Interestingly, hosts of the respective World Cups apper in the chart only thrice, two of which being in World Cup 2011 itself. Moreover, India is only the third nation to have repeated the feat of clinching the World Cup twice, West Indies and Australia being the others while top teams like South Africa and New Zealand are yet to make their mark to the finals of a World Cup. South Africa are the unlucky ones returning thrice from the door step of bagging the CUP that matters. After all "Jo jeeta wahi Sikander!"
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