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In the lead up to the cricket World Cup, the first stage of The Hindu's Countdown coverage will look back at each of the editions, with big-picture essays, snapshots of defining performances, and excerpts of reports and photographs of the finals curated from The Hindu’s archives.

	No. 10: Kapil Dev: India's talisman His numbers across four World Cups are creditable, but there are others with better. Very few, though, have had Kapil Dev’s impact on a team’s fortunes in an edition. Had he not made a staggering, unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells, with his side reeling on nine for four, or had a lesser athlete set off in pursuit of Viv Richards’s miscue in the final in 1983, Indian — and indeed world — cricket history will have been very different. Consider that he often broke through with the new ball and seldom leaked runs with the old, and you get a sense of how valuable Kapil was. He was just the sort of leader to defend 183 in the final, too — a man to whom no cause, however dire, was lost.
	No. 9: Wasim Akram: Strike Force Imran Khan had to teach him the yorker, but every other delivery in the swing-and-seam bowler’s handbook — a few others besides — came naturally to Wasim Akram. Add slippery pace, the left-armer’s angle, and a mean streak, and the result was a man who could strike at any time. The biggest stage inspired his finest moment — he ripped the heart out of England’s batting in the 1992 final, his deliveries to dismiss Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis sinister works of art. No batsman fancied facing him, even at the end of a long WC career.
	No. 9: M. Muralitharan: The Magician A ball-bewitcher, much like the man he shares this spot with, Muttiah Muralitharan did many things at once for his captain. This may be seen through his numbers. Sides often looked to play him out — why chance it when you struggled to lay bat on ball? So he conceded just 3.88 runs per over. The ploy rarely succeeded, for the wizard off-spinner also took a wicket every 30 balls. The fallout was the opposition effectively batted 40 overs to Sri Lanka’s 50; and was forced to take more risks in them, not always profitably.
	8. IMRAN KHAN: “In the twilight of my career, finally I’ve managed to win the World Cup,” said Imran Khan, in the most self-absorbed acceptance speech the tournament has seen, but it’s a difficult statement to disagree with. The 1992 win was as much Imran’s as Pakistan’s. This was a team he had assembled over the years. Wasim Akram was chosen from the nets in he '80s. Inzamam-ul-Haq was written off as a chubby batsman who couldn't make the next level, but Imran saw match-winning potential in him. Imran was fortunate to have the great Javed Miandad beside him, but there were no doubts about who the general was. Tactically brilliant, Imran also led by stirring example, most notably promoting himself to one-drop in the semifinal and final. As if that weren’t enough, his numbers suggest he is the greatest all-rounder in World Cup history.
	7. SHANE WARNE: Big-stage hero Few cricketers made things happen as often as Shane Warne. The theatre of the big occasion especially suited the leg-spinner: he was irresistible in the semifinals in 1996 and 1999, producing game-turning spells that shattered the West Indies and South Africa respectively. In the 1999 final, he came on to bowl with Pakistan already in trouble and swiftly ensured there would be no recovery. Had he been half as good against Sri Lanka in the 1996 final and not been banned from the 2003 edition after taking a slimming pill and failing a drug test, Warne would have been higher on this list. STATS 2 World Cups, 1 winner’s medal, once finalist, 17 matches 32 wickets, 4/29 best bowling, 19.50 average, 3.83 economy rate, 30.5 strike rate, 4 Four-wicket hauls
	ARAVINDA DE SILVA: Immense under pressure No cricketer has dominated the business end of a World Cup as completely as Aravinda de Silva did in 1996. His counterattacking 66 against India in the semifinal at a packed Eden Gardens, having walked in with Sri Lanka on one for two, was an instant classic. A wicket and a catch completed the match-winning performance. Incredibly, he topped that in the final against Australia, bossing all phases of the contest. Three wickets with his tight off-spin and two catches helped keep Australia to 241, a challenging target, given no team had previously won a World Cup batting second. The nerveless, unbeaten 107 that followed, secured immortality. STATS Five World Cups, 1 winner’s medal, 35 matches 1064 runs, 145 highest score, 36.68 average, 86.57 strike rate, 2 100s, 6 50s.
	6. STEVE WAUGH: Never say die Steve Waugh was the ‘Iceman’ during the 1987 triumph. Clinical and innovative under pressure in the slog overs, his mix of slower cutters and blustery bumpers turned matches. By 1999, Waugh was one of the world’s leading batsmen and captain of a side that was in the process of becoming all-conquering. He lived up to this reputation, making an unbeaten 120 against a strong South African bowling line-up in the Super Sixes, having walked in at 48 for three, with his side chasing 272. Waugh didn’t quite say, “You’ve just dropped the World Cup, mate,” to Herschelle Gibbs during that innings (it was a more prosaic “I hope you realise that you’ve just lost the game for your team”), but he and Australia did establish a mental dominance that took more than a decade to break. Waugh’s captaincy was sometimes criticised for lacking ideas when forced to defend, but there’s no doubt he knew how to attack: Adam Gilchrist’s promotion to the top was merely one of many tactical moves made with an eye on domination. Stat: Four World Cups, two winner’s medals, 33 matches; Batting: 978 runs, 120 n.o. best score, 48.90 average, 81.02 strike rate, 1 100, 6 50s -- Bowling: 27 wickets, 3/36 best bowling, 30.14 average, 38.4 strike rate, 4.70 economy rate
	5. SACHIN TENDULKAR: The phenomWhichever way you section Sachin Tendulkar’s career, its consistency over time astounds the mind. The World Cup is no different. Statistically there hasn’t been a better batsman: no one has made more runs, hundreds or fifties; and only Viv Richards among those with more than 1000 runs has a higher average (63.31). Tendulkar moreover did it in different conditions, in Australia, England, South Africa and the subcontinent, during a period in which the one-day game changed significantly. He was at his most memorable as an explosive opener, particularly in the 1996 and 2003 editions, when he topped the batting charts. And yet in 2011, approaching his 38th birthday, he found a way of making runs even quicker: 92 per 100 balls, compared to 89 (2003) and 86 (1996). What's such a record doing at No. 5? It's very tight at the top, and the men who edged past Tendulkar into the top four have contributed significantly to more than one World Cup triumph and possess better records in finals. His 22 runs in two World Cup finals aren't something to beat him with, however. He seldom failed to perform in other knockout matches and games against Pakistan (perceived by Indian cricketers as must-win), and so his finals record is more anomaly than evidence of frailty. But it does help separate a very close field. The triumph in 2011 completed a glittering career and fulfilled a boyhood dream. STATS: 6 World Cups, 1 winner’s medal, 45 matches; 2278 runs, 152 highest score, 56.95 average, 88.98 strike rate, 6 100s, 15 50s