Hosts South Africa sacked Shaun Pollock after his team was knocked out in the league phase. Polly was asked to stand down voluntarily but he refused and asked the selectors to sack him.

"I did not offer to step down," he then told rediff.com "I never wanted to quit. I didn't want to quit when things got tough."

Graeme Smith, 22, who was not in South Africa's original World Cup squad, was appointed captain.

Sri Lankan skipper Sanath Jayasuriya also resigned after his team lost the semi-final to Australia. He had taken over the team after its disastrous show in the 1999 World Cup in England.

Waqar Younis was sacked and dropped from the team after Pakistan lost to India and failed to qualify for the Super Six stage.

Brian Lara returned to the West Indies captaincy after Carl Hooper was fired unceremoniously after the team's World Cup debacle.

Nasser Hussain quit after his team failed to qualify for the Super Six league.

Bangladesh replaced Khaled Masud with Khaled Mahmud after the team failed to win a single World Cup game.

Text: Faisal Shariff

Pollock sacked
Hooper ousted
The World Cup