2003 Cricket World Cup in the context of "2003 Cricket World Cup final"

The Canada men's national cricket team represents Canada in international cricket. The team is administered by Cricket Canada, which became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1968.

With the United States, Canada was one of the two participants in the first ever international cricket match (between two national teams) played in New York City in 1844. The annual Canada–U.S. fixture is now known as the Auty Cup. Canada's first international match against a team other than the U.S. came in 1932, when Australia toured. As with the ICC associate members, the team's first major international tournament was the 1979 ICC Trophy in England, where they qualified for the 1979 World Cup after placing second to Sri Lanka. After that, Canada did not make another World Cup until 2003, although they remained one of the leading associate teams. From 2006 to 2013, Canada had both One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International status, competing in the 2007 and 2011 World Cups. However, since the introduction of the new World Cricket League divisional structure, the team has been less successful – they were placed amongst the bottom teams at the 2014 World Cup Qualifier and the 2015 WCL Division Two tournaments, and were consequently relegated to the 2017 Division Three event.

The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is an international cricket competition established in 1975. It is contested by the men's national teams of the members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport's global governing body. The tournament generally takes place every four years. Most recently, the 2023 Cricket World Cup, hosted by India, was won by Australia, who beat India. The current trophy was instituted in 1999. It always remains with the ICC, and a replica is awarded to the winning team.For the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, the host nation and the seven other highest-ranked nations automatically qualify for the World Cup, while other nations including associate and affiliate ICC members play in a qualification tournament, the World Cup Qualifier. Though an associate member is yet to reach the final, Kenya did reach the semi-finals in 2003. Australia is the most successful team in the competition's history, winning six tournaments and finishing as runner-up twice. Twice, teams have won successive tournaments: the West Indies won the first two editions (1975 and 1979) and Australia won three in a row (1999, 2003, and 2007). Australia has played in the most finals (eight out of thirteen: 1975, 1987, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2015, and 2023). England has lost the most World Cup finals, ending as runner-up in all three final appearances before their victory in the 2019 tournament.

Of the twenty teams that have qualified for at least one Cricket World Cup, seven have contested a tournament final. Seven venues have hosted the final; only two of those – Lord's, in London, and the Melbourne Cricket Ground – have hosted multiple finals. India is the only country that has hosted a World Cup final at more than one venue, with Eden Gardens, Kolkata, hosting in 1987, Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium hosting in 2011 and Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting in 2023.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (/ˌsʌtʃɪn tɛnˈduːlkər/ ; Marathi: [sətɕin t̪eɳɖulkəɾ]; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. Often dubbed the "God of Cricket" in India, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time. He holds several world records, including being the all-time highest run-scorer in international cricket, receiving the most player of the match awards in international cricket, and being the only batsman to score 100 international centuries. Tendulkar was a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha by presidential nomination from 2012 to 2018.

Tendulkar took up cricket at the age of eleven, made his Test match debut on 15 November 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi at the age of sixteen, and went on to represent Mumbai domestically and India internationally for over 24 years. In 2002, halfway through his career, Wisden ranked him the second-greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Don Bradman, and the second-greatest ODI batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards. The same year, Tendulkar was a part of the team that was one of the joint-winners of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy. Later in his career, Tendulkar was part of the Indian team that won the 2011 Cricket World Cup, his first win in six World Cup appearances for India. He had previously been named "Player of the Tournament" at the 2003 World Cup.

Adam Craig Gilchrist AM (/ɡɪlkrɪst/; born 14 November 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former international cricketer and captain of the Australia national cricket team. He was an attacking left-handed batsman and record-breaking wicket-keeper, who redefined the role for the Australia national team through his aggressive batting. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman in the history of the game, Gilchrist held the world record for the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in One Day International (ODI) cricket until it was surpassed by Kumar Sangakkara in 2015 and the most by an Australian in Test cricket. Gilchrist was a member of the Australian team that won three consecutive world titles in a row: the 1999 Cricket World Cup, the 2003 Cricket World Cup, and the 2007 Cricket World Cup, along with winning the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy.

His strike rate is amongst the highest in the history of both ODI and Test cricket; his 57 ball century against England at Perth in December 2006 is the fourth-fastest century in all Test cricket. He was the first player to have hit 100 sixes in Test cricket. His 17 Test centuries and 16 in ODIs are both second only to Sangakkara by a wicket-keeper. He holds the unique record of scoring at least 50 runs in three consecutive World Cup finals (in 1999, 2003 and 2007). His 149 off 101 balls against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup final is rated one of the greatest World Cup innings of all time. He is one of only three players to have won three World Cup titles.