A tournament of wonders: All the records that broke at the Cricket World Cup 2023

Many team and individual milestones from previous editions of the World Cup were shattered, and new records were set during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023.

From South Africa’s attacking first innings play to Glenn Maxwell’s masterpiece at Wankhede to Virat Kohli’s prolific run, the tournament had it all.

The competitive nature of the event showed in an unusual record – the tournament became the first instance where every participating team managed to win at least two games each.

Here are the key records created at the Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.

When Australia took the podium at the Narendra Modi stadium, the side was lifting the trophy for a record sixth occasion. Their first-ever win in the tournament came in 1987 when Allan Border’s men downed England in a close contest at the Eden Gardens.

They went on to win the trophy in 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015 before completing a full circle in India in 2023. This makes them the most successful side in the tournament. In fact, the only other teams with more than one triumph in the tournament are West Indies (1975, 1979) and India (1983, 2011).

With eight appearances in 13 finals, they have also featured in the most finals in the tournament. India and England come joint-second with four appearances each.

Travis Head’s magnificent 137 helped Australia charge towards a sixth World Cup triumph. He was the seventh centurion in a World Cup final, becoming the second player after Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva to ton up in a chase.

De Silva’s 107* led the island nation to triumph against Australia in 1996.

Though his team didn’t end up with the trophy, Kohli was among the finest performers in the tournament. He finished as the highest run-getter with 765 runs at an average of 95.62.

This helped him overtake Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 673 runs, which was set in India’s World Cup run of 2003.

During this tournament, Kohli also became the batter with the most ODI hundreds. Here too, he overtook his idol Tendulkar, who was the previous record holder with 49 tons to his name.

Kohli began the tournament with 47 ODI hundreds. He reached his 48th century against Bangladesh in Pune with a 103* in a successful chase. He equaled Tendulkar at Eden Gardens against South Africa. The unbeaten 101* laid the foundation for a massive 243-run win.

Finally, in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai, Kohli smashed his 50th ODI hundred at the Wankhede, scoring 117 from 113 balls.

South Africa announced their presence at the World Cup in style, blazing off to 428/5 against Sri Lanka. Quinton de Kock, Rassie van der Dussen, and Aiden Markram hit tons during Proteas' exceptional innings.

Markram also clubbed his ODI hundred off merely 49-balls, which at the time was the fastest World Cup hundred.

This was the highest-ever score in a Cricket World Cup game, overtaking Australia’s 417/6 against Afghanistan in 2015. This was also South Africa’s third-highest total in ODIs.

Temba Bavuma’s side had nine individual hundreds which is also now the most for a team in a single edition.

The Proteas also became the first team to score four 350-plus scores in a single World Cup edition. They hit 99 sixes in this World Cup, which was the most by a team in a single edition.

It was only after an injury to Hardik Pandya that Mohammed Shami got an opportunity to feature for India. And he began in style, with a match-winning five-wicket haul against New Zealand.

During his exceptional run, he picked 24 wickets at an average of 10.7, which is the third-best in a single edition of the World Cup.

He took merely 17 innings to reach the overall haul of 50 wickets in the World Cup, making him the fastest-ever bowler to reach the landmark. The pacer is also the first bowler to record three five-fors in a single World Cup edition.

India skipper Rohit Sharma was at his belligerent best during the World Cup. His selfless batting was often the foundation of strong match-winning totals. In his prolific run, which saw him score 597 runs at an average of 54.27 and a strike rate of 125.94, Rohit also managed to score a century.

His match-winning 131 against Afghanistan was his seventh Cricket World Cup century. He became the leading century-maker in the World Cups, surpassing Tendulkar (6) in the process.

With 31 ODI tons, he’s now third on the list of all-time century makers in the format.

Thanks to his hard-hitting approach, Rohit became the first player to hit more than 50 sixes in the tournament, with a total of 54 maximums to his name.

Markram’s record for the fastest Cricket World Cup hundred stood only for a few days, as Australia’s all-rounder Maxwell blazed to a stunning century against the Netherlands. Maxwell hit nine fours and eight sixes en route his match-winning hundred.

Shami was instrumental in India’s win over New Zealand in their semi-final at Wankhede. His seven-wicket haul led to Kiwis' downfall as they slipped from 220/2 to 327 all out.

These were the best-ever figures by an Indian bowler in ODIs. The previous record was held by Stuart Binny, who had picked 6/4 against Bangladesh in 2014.

The miracle of Maxwell continued in the tournament, as the star performer unleashed an all-time great ODI innings against Afghanistan in Mumbai.

Arriving at 49/4, he soon saw his side slide to 91/7 in pursuit of 292. Then battling severe cramps against a pumped up bowling line-up, he unleashed a masterclass for the ages.

His double hundred was the first by an Australian in ODIs and the second-fastest double ton ever. It was also the first time a double century was scored in a chase. This was also the highest score from someone coming in at number six or lower position.

• Kohli stands 152 runs away from 14,000 runs in ODIS. He surpassed Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya and Australia's Ricky Ponting to become the third-highest run-getter in ODI history during the event.

• Kohli is the second-highest run-getter in ICC Men’s World Cup history with 1,795 runs, behind Tendulkar.

• Australia's Mitchell Starc surpassed Pakistan's Wasim Akram and Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga to become the third-highest wicket-taker in the history of the Cricket World Cup. He has 65 wickets to his name.

• South Africa's Quinton de Kock finished with 594 runs in this World Cup. This is the highest runs tally by a wicketkeeper batter in a single World Cup edition. He also became the first player in the cricketing history to score 500 runs and affect 20 or more dismissals in a World Cup.

• Rohit Sharma and David Warner became the joint-fastest players to reach 1000 runs in World Cups. Both batters took 19 innings to reach the landmark.

• Haris Rauf had an ignominious record to his name after conceding 533 runs in the tournament. No other bowler has conceded more in a single edition.

• Adam Zampa ended the World Cup with 23 wickets to his name, which is the joint-most wickets taken by a spinner, equalling Muttiah Muralitharan.