Chasing The Perfect World Cup Title... Five Games To Go

West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka have won an ODI World Cup without losing a game. Can India, who have won their first six matches, pull off a similar run?

- VIVEK KRISHNAN

For a World Cup to be won without blemish, history suggests that an epoch-defining array of cricketers is required. It needs the tactical acumen of a bespectacled Clive Lloyd, the genius of a gum-chewing Viv Richards and the pure pace of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and other distinguished members of the fast-bowling cartel.

Or it needs the in-your-face aggression of Ricky Ponting, the belligerence of Adam Gilchrist and the nagging accuracy of Glenn McGrath. Or the captaincy smarts of Arjuna Ranatunga, the regal grace of Aravinda de Silva and the wizardry of Muttiah Muralitharan.

In the 48 years since the World Cup began, only West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka have won a World Cup without losing a game. So utterly dominant were the West Indians (1975, 1979) and Australians (2003, 2007) that they managed to do it twice. Sri Lanka's triumph came in 1996.

On the back of India’s sixth straight win in this year’s World Cup, can Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and the rest dare to dream along those lines? Of not just winning the tournament but going undefeated through 11 games across 43 days?

Among many factors, it will require a defiance of the ‘law of averages’ argument that is prevalent across sport. Not backed by any statistical principle, it essentially works on the idea that it’s better to get a loss out of the way in the preliminary phase than winning all the games in the lead-up to a semi-final where the odds of a defeat may rise.