STATS: Records held by Indian players in ICC World Cups

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As the 2019 World Cup draws near and near, the excitement is slowly building and the expectations from the teams are mounting ahead of the mega-showdown staring May 30.

Hosts England and two-time champions India are considered to be the favourites going into the tournament and why shouldn't they be? Eoin Morgan and Virat Kohli's men are ranked No.1 and No.2 in the world respectively and played the most consistent cricket over the last few years.

While England have an extremely strong batting unit, India have an all-round side that could challenge every team on all fronts. Kohli's team is stacked with able batsmen down to No.8 and bowlers, who can turn the game on their head at any given time. 

With the English summer towards its end, the pitches are expected to be flat and loads of runs will be scored. Therefore, bowlers will play an equal part as the batsmen. 

There is a huge amount of scope for records being broken this season and as we get closer, we take a look at all the records held by Indians in a World Cup tournament over the years.

SACHIN TENDULKAR -- MOST RUNS AND CENTURIES IN WORLD CUP 

Sachin Tendulkar has long been India's star batsman and there was a time when it was believed that if Tendulkar falls, India will lose the game. Tendulkar would always step up at the biggest of stages and he sure did in World Cups.

Tendulkar has played six World Cup tournament from 1992 to 2011 and has finished with 2278 runs -- the most in the showpiece event. The right-hander has played 45 matches and scored at an average of 56.95.

Ricky Ponting has scored the most number of runs after Tendulkar with 1743 and is followed by Kumar Sangakkara, who has 1532 runs to his name.

Not only that, Tendulkar has also scored the most number of centuries and fifties in the World Cup. He has scored 15 half-centuries and six hundreds.

His six hundreds came against Kenya (1996 at Barabati Stadium), Sri Lanka (1996 at Feroz Shah Kotla), Kenya (1999 at County Ground), Namibia (2003 at City Oval), England (2011 at Chinnaswamy Stadium) and South Africa (2011 at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium).

The second and third place in most centuries belongs to Sangakkara and  Ponting, who have five each.

CHETAN SHARMA -- FIRST-EVER TO TAKE A HAT-TRICK IN A WORLD CUP

India's Chetan Sharma took the first-ever World Cup hat-trick in 1987 and since then, eight others have achieved the feat. However, he remains the only Indian to grace the prestigious list.

Sharma's feat came during India's final group game against New Zealand in Nagpur.

He took the wickets of Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith and Ewen Chatfield, with all three being clean bowled by Sharma.

The other eight people to take hat-tricks are Saqlain Mushtaq (1999 versus Zimbabwe), Chaminda Vaas (2003 versus Bangladesh), Brett Lee (2003 versus Kenya), Lasith Malinga (2007 versus South Africa), Kemar Roach (2011 versus Netherlands), Lasith Malinga (2011 versus Kenya), Steven Finn (2015 versus Australia) and JP Duminy (2015 versus Sri Lanka).

SACHIN TENDULKAR -- MOST RUNS IN A WORLD CUP

Tendulkar was in stupendous form in 2003 as Sourav Ganguly's men marched their way into the final before losing to a rampaging Australian team at the Wanderers.

The Indian opener smashed every bowler around and gave India flying starts and it was the key behind India's most successful run after the 1983 World Cup, where they first won the coveted trophy under the leadership of Kapil Dev.

He smashed 673 runs from 11 games at an average of 61.18, hitting one century and six fifties. His highest was 152 against Namibia at the City Oval Ground.

Matthew Hayden is second in the list with 659 runs in the 2007 World Cup in West Indies and Mahela Jayawardene a far third with 548 runs in the West Indies.

YUVRAJ SINGH -- 5 WICKETS AND 50 RUNS IN A MATCH

Yuvraj Singh is the first and only player to take five wickets and score 50 runs in a match. He achieved the feat against Ireland in the 2011 World Cup in a group game at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Yuvi got the wickets of William Porterfield, Andrew White, Kevin O Brien, Alex Cusack and John Mooney. He finished with figures of 5/31 from his 10 overs as Ireland folded for 207.

Coming in to bat, he played a patient knock in what turned out to be a tricky chase. Yuvraj finished with 50 not out off 75 balls as India won the match by 5 wickets and 24 balls to spare.

INDIA -- FIRST NATION TO WIN A WORLD CUP AT HOME

This achievement is not of a single player but a team and it was a dream ending for the Men in Blue in front of a packed Wankhede on April 2, 2011.

India defeated Sri Lanka in the final by 6 wickets with 10 balls to spare as Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit a trademark helicopter shot to seal the deal.

Tendulkar and Yuvraj were the star performers for Team India as they lifted their second World Cup and first at home.

Four years later, Australia became the second team to do so, when they beat New Zealand at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by 7 wickets under the leadership of Michael Clarke.