Ranking Teams With Most ICC Titles In The 21st Century

One of the biggest joys in sports and especially team sports is winning global events. By doing that, they not only carve out a legacy for their side but also for themselves.

But, not every team is able to achieve that. And, South Africa in cricket remains the biggest example of the aforementioned fact. That is because to win an ICC event, one does not only needs talent but steely nerves in the face of adversity.

There have been a total of 18 ICC events in the 21st century and we, at Cricket Addictor thought, why not rank teams according to the number of titles they have won in the past 20 years.

So, here we are Ranking teams with the most ICC titles in the 21st century:

(Note: 50-over World Cup has been given a higher priority while ranking the sides)

Also Read: Five Underdog Teams Who Went On To Win An ICC Event In The 21st Century

7. New Zealand- 1

Tournament: ICC Knockout [Champions]Trophy, 2000

Oh! New Zealand fans look away! For, this would surely bring back the memories of that dreaded evening of July 14th, 2019 when the Kane Williamson-led BlackCaps came so close to winning their first-ever 50-over World Cup and take their tally to two ICC titles in the 21st century.

Alas! That was not to be. But, let’s talk about the good moments here. New Zealand was actually the first team to win an ICC event in the 21st century. And, they did that at the expense of Sourav Ganguly-led Men in Blue in the 2000 ICC Knockout final thanks to a whirlwind hundred from all-rounder Chris Cairns.

Chasing 265, New Zealand romped to a four-wicket win, and 20 years later, it still remains their only ICC title triumph.

6. Sri Lanka- 1.5

Tournaments: Joint-Winners of the 2002 Champions Trophy, ICC T20 World Cup 2014

Now, you’d be wondering why the number of ICC titles written next to Sri Lanka is in decimal and not in absolute integers? Well! That was because of the inexplicable reserve-day role in the 2002 Champions Trophy where, in case of a washed-out final, the game started from scratch on the next day.

India and hosts Sri Lanka made it to the summit clash but had to contend with sharing the silverware after torrential rains washed out the second innings on each of the two days.

It is actually very unfortunate that Sri Lanka has just 1.5 titles to show against their name in the 21st century because the numbers do not actually reflect the consistency that they displayed in ICC events between 2000-14. The island nation lost as many as four finals- 2007 & 2011 50-over World Cup, 2009 & 2012 World T20- besides bowing out at the semi-final stage in the 2003 World Cup and 2010 World T20.

12 years after sharing the silverware with India, Sri Lanka finally laid hands on an ICC trophy when they defeated the Men in Blue in the World T20 final in Dhaka.

5. Pakistan- 2

Tournaments: ICC T20 World Cup 2009 & 2017 Champions Trophy

After having won the 1992 World Cup under the leadership of Imran Khan and finishing as runners-up in the 1999 quadrennial event, Pakistan went through a phase where qualifying for the second round became an arduous task for them.

The Men in Green bowed at the league-stage in the 2003 and 2007 50-over World Cups and while they finished as semi-finalists in the 2000 and 2004 Champions Trophy and runners-up in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, the silverware continued to elude them.

That all changed in the 2009 T20 World Cup when the Men in Green, under the leadership of Younis Khan, riding on an all-round show from Shahid Afridi and brilliant bowling from Umar Akmal finally laid hands on the silverware when they defeated Sri Lanka in the final at Lord’s.

Eight years later, Sarfaraz Ahmed-led unit repeated the heist in the Champions Trophy where they scripted a turnaround for the ages by coming from the dead and annihilating arch-rivals India in the final by 180 runs to take their tally of ICC titles to two in the 21st century.

4. England- 2

Tournaments: ICC T20 World Cup 2010 & 2019 World Cup

England white-ball team had endured a long period of mediocrity since their 1992 World Cup final defeat to Pakistan. Post that, England was never really a force to reckon within most of the ICC events. And, when they did do well, like in the 2004 Champions Trophy, they choked at the final hurdle.

That all changed in 2010 when an inspired Paul Collingwood-led English team defied the odds and laid hands on their first-ever global silverware when they defeated arch-rivals Australia in the T20 World Cup final in the Caribbean.

But a 50-over ICC event triumph still eluded England. They came close to achieving that in the 2013 Champions Trophy but just like 2004, the ‘Three Lions’ once again faltered at the final hurdle against MS Dhoni-led India.

The watershed moment in England white-ball cricket came in the 2015 World Cup where they were ousted in the group stage after a humiliating defeat to Bangladesh. Post the shellacking, Eoin Morgan and Head Coach Trevor Bayliss proceeded to bring about a whirlwind change in English cricket by inculcating ruthless aggression to the set-up that had, for long, trapped itself into the shackles of conservatism.

The result- England ODI team became a template as to how one should approach 50-over cricket in the modern era. And, their four years of hard work finally resulted in a World Cup Trophy, albeit in a controversial manner, on the 14th of July 2019.

3. West Indies- 3

Tournaments: 2004 Champions Trophy, ICC T20 World Cup 2014 & 2016

They may no longer be the force to reckon with, but don’t these Men from the Caribbean know to win World events or what?

The West Indies have won three ICC events in the 21st century, the first of which came in the 2004 Champions Trophy where Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne pulled them out of the dead, propelled the Brian Lara-led unit to a sensational triumph over England.

The West Indies were primed for greatness in T20 cricket and so when they underwhelmed in the first three World Twenty20s, it came as a huge surprise for everyone.

That all changed in the 2012 edition when Marlon Samuels’ whirlwind knock helped them snatch victory from the jaws of the certain defeat against hosts Sri Lanka in the finals. Four years, Samuels was at the heart of another titular win for the West Indies but it was Carlos Brathwaite’s four sixes off Ben Stokes in the final, which ultimately stole the limelight as the Windies became the first team to win two ICC T20 World Cups.

2. India- 3.5

Tournaments: Joint-winners of the 2002 Champions Trophy, 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 50-over World Cup & 2013 Champions Trophy

Indian cricket was in doldrums at the turn of the 21st century. The match-fixing saga had rocked it to the core and when a resurgent Team India under Sourav Ganguly progressed to the final of the 2000 ICC knockout, where they were eventually beaten by New Zealand, it was still seen as a massive victory.

Nevertheless, an ICC title still eluded the Men in Blue. They had to contend with sharing the silverware with Sri Lanka in the 2002 Champions Trophy thanks to rain and with the runner-up medal in the 2003 World Cup.

The wait for an ICC trophy finally ended on September 24, 2007, when a young team led by MS Dhoni went on to beat Pakistan in the inaugural World Twenty20. And, thus started a magical six-year period where the Men in Blue added a 50-over title in 2011 on home soil and Champions Trophy, two years later, all under one man- MS Dhoni, as they became the first team to win each of three ICC titles- a record that still holds to date.

Also Read: 5 Best Memories Of The Captain MS Dhoni

1. Australia- 5

Tournaments: 2003, 2007 & 2015 World Cup, 2006 & 2009 Champions Trophy

Of course, it had to be Australia. At the turn of the century, the Aussies were the team to beat and so when they failed to win the 2000 and 2002 Champions Trophy, questions began to galore around the 50-over World Cup champions.

But by the time 2003 World Cup, Australia once again displayed as to why they were the ultimate ODI team of the 2000s. Despite losing Shane Warne on the eve of their first game against Pakistan, the Ricky Ponting-led team proceeded to swat aside every team that came between them and the World Cup trophy with disdain, including India in the finals to retain their crown.

Four years later, they did the same. The only thing that was different was their opponent in the finals. In 2003, it was India while this time it was Sri Lanka, who they shellacked with equal disdain to become the first team to win three World Cups in a row.

Australia’s unbeaten run finally came to an end in 2011 but four years later Michael Clarke and his side regained the crown in front of 90,000-plus home fans at the MCG where they defeated New Zealand in another one-sided final.

Australia was winning World Cups for fun in the 2000s but strangely they did not have the same success in the first three Champions Trophies at the turn of century. Of-course, they went on to compensate for it by winning it in back-to-back editions in 2006 and 2009.

The one title that still eludes Australia is the T20 World Cup and they will hope they can end the drought on home soil if the event does go ahead later this year.