ICC World Cup 2019: Two-time champions India’s journey in the history of the tournament

The 12th edition of the Cricket World Cup will kick off at the Oval in England on May 30 when hosts and three-time finalists England will take on South Africa. This is the fifth time that a World Cup edition will be held in England after 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999. Australia have won the trophy the most number of times (five) while the Windies and India have won twice each. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won once each.

We take a look at performances of teams at the World Cup as per the current ICC rankings in the ODIs. The upcoming edition will be a 10-team affair and it will be the first time that a World Cup will not feature all the Test-playing nations (Zimbabwe and Ireland miss out) and only the second time since 1992 where there will be no groups and each team will be playing the other and the top four will qualify for the semi-finals.

Here we look at India’s journey in the World Cup. Ranked second in the ICC’s ODI table at the moment, India have played in all 11 editions of the tournament so far, winning it twice while finishing as the runners-up once.

India at World Cup cricket

India have played 74 matches in the showpiece event till now, winning 46, losing 26 while one was tied and another ending without a result. They won the tournament in England in 1983 and at home in 2011. They also made the finals of the 2003 edition played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya but were beaten by Australia.

World Cup 1975; failed to proceed beyond the group stage

Led by spinner Srinivas Venkataraghavan, India were in Group A with hosts England, New Zealand and erstwhile East Africa. They had a bizarre first match against England in which chasing 335 runs in 60 overs, India finished at 132 for 3 with opener Sunil Gavaskar remaining unbeaten 36 in 174 balls! Maybe India were trying to play for a draw. Gavaskar scored a much better 86-ball-65* to trounce East Africa by 10 wickets in the second game. But a four-wicket loss to New Zealand in their final group game in Manchester saw India crashing out of the tournament.

World Cup 1979; failed to progress beyond the group stage

Led by Venkataraghavan again, this was India’s worst World Cup ever as the team crashed out of the tournament without winning a single game. India were clubbed with the Windies, the eventual champions, New Zealand and Sri Lanka – who were yet to get the Test status. They failed to score a 200-plus total in any of the matches and lost to the Caribbeans by 9 wickets, to the Kiwis by 8 wickets and even to the Lankans by 47 runs.

World Cup 1983; champions

After their pathetic show in the first two World Cups, not many had given Kapil’s Devils much of a chance in the 1983 edition. However, the team had other plans and they stunned the world to accomplish a feat that went on to change the course of the sport in the country. India were clubbed with the Windies, Australia and Zimbabwe in the group and they played each team twice.

India won four of the six games (that included the win over Zimbabwe in the game at Royal Tunbridge Wells when Kapil Dev had played an unbelievable inning) while they lost to Australia and Windies once. India started off with a 34-run win over the defenders Windies and that was a morale-boosting feat. India advanced to semi-finals, first time in a WC, where they beat hosts England by 6 wickets and then humbled the mighty Windies by 43 runs in the final to deny them a hat-trick of crowns.

World Cup 1987; lost to England in semifinals

As defenders, India started off with a run loss to Australia but went on to win the next five matches (New Zealand and Zimbabwe twice and Australia once) to advance to the semifinals with a better run-rate over Australia who also ended up with 20 points. However, India had a heartbreak in the semi-finals in Mumbai when they lost to England by 35 runs to lose their crown. Kapil Dev lost his captaincy while Sunil Gavaskar played his last match in Mumbai.

World Cup 1992; failed to qualify for the semifinals

India were captained by Mohammad Azharuddin in this edition was which was played in Australia and New Zealand and in a round-robin format. The 1983 champions had a poor outing as they lost five of their eight matches (against England, Australia, Windies, New Zealand and South Africa) and won two (against Pakistan and Zimbabwe) while one match (against Sri Lanka) was washed out. India finished seventh among nine teams – above Sri Lanka (by a better run-rate) and Zimbabwe in a WC which was the first for Sachin Tendulkar.

World Cup 1996; lost to Sri Lanka in semi-finals

Azharuddin captained India in a World Cup for the second successive time and it was a fixed performance. One of the two hosts of the tournament, India were clubbed with Sri Lanka, Australia, Windies, Zimbabwe and Kenya. They beat Kenya, Windies and Zimbabwe but lost to the Lankans and Aussies in the group stage to qualify for the quarter-finals as the third-place holder from the group.

India then had their biggest success of the tournament when they knocked out defending champions Pakistan in the quarters but in the very next game – the semifinal – Azhar’s men were humbled by Sri Lanka, the eventual champions on a bad wicket. The match could not be ended as the spectators disrupted the game seeing the home team slumping and it was forfeited to Arjuna Ranatunga’s team who had already received two walkovers in the tournament.

World Cup 1999; failed to progress beyond Super Six

Azhar led India in his third successive WC and it was held in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the Netherlands. India were placed with South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Sri Lanka and England. The Men in Blue had a disastrous start as they lost to South Africa and Zimbabwe in their first two games. India then had to win all the remaining games to stay in the hunt for a Super Six berth and they did well to beat Kenya (Tendulkar returned from home after his father’s death and slammed a hundred), Sri Lanka and England to make the Super Six.

However, the rules of the tournament saw them carrying no point into the Super Six since they had lost to the other two teams – South Africa and Zimbabwe – that qualified for the next stage. India lost to Australia and New Zealand in the Super Six, failing to qualify for the semi-finals though they beat Pakistan.

World Cup 2003; lost to Australia in the finals

Sourav Ganguly was the captain of the side in this edition and after an ordinary win over the Netherlands in the first match, India were hammered by Australia in their second game and that fuelled the fans’ ire at home and they attacked the cricketers’ houses. It was then when India brought a sea-change in their performance, beating Zimbabwe, debutants Namibia England and Pakistan to qualify for the Super Six as the second in the group.

India then went on to win all their three games in the Super Six, against Kenya, Sri Lanka and New Zealand to storm into the semi-finals where they thrashed Kenya again to make their second WC final after 1983. However, Ricky Ponting’s decimating 140 not out in the final blew the Men in Blue away in the finals, winning a one-sided game by 125 runs.

World Cup 2007; failed to progress beyond the group stage

Under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy, India had their worst WC campaign in the Caribbeans in 2007, since the all-lost one in 1979. India lost their opening game against Bangladesh by 5 wickets, digging up their own grave and though the second game against Bermuda saw them slamming a 400-plus score and winning by 257 runs, India fell flat in the must-win final league game against Sri Lanka, losing it by 69 runs to crash out. The early exit of India made this one of the dullest WCs in history in terms of PR.

World Cup 2011; Champions

The World Cup was back into the sub-continent (except Pakistan) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s India became the first team to win a WC technically at own home (in 1996, Sri Lanka had won on Pakistan soil). India started with a bang, blowing away Bangladesh by 87 runs in their first game and after tying the game with England, they picked two wins against Ireland and the Netherlands to face a shocking loss versus South Africa (their only in the tournament).

India bulldozed the Windies in their final group game to advance to quarters as the second team from the seven-team group. Dhoni’s side then stopped holders Australia’s unbeaten streak since 1999 and registered a well-deserved win over Pakistan in the semi-finals. And in the high-scoring final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai, Gautam Gambhir’s 97 and Dhoni’s 91 not out saw India rewriting history, 28 years since Kapil’s Devils heroics.

World Cup 2015; lost to Australia in the semi-finals

Led by Dhoni again, India had one of the best WCs in 2015, when the edition returned Down Under, winning seven consecutive games, matched only by New Zealand, one of the hosts. India started off on a grand note, defeating Pakistan by 76 runs in the first game to continue with their clean record against the arch-rivals. They then annihilated South Africa by 130 runs, UAE by 9 wickets, Windies by 4 wickets, Ireland by 5 wickets and Zimbabwe by 6 wickets.

In the quarters, group champions India overcame Bangladesh’s challenge in a game that generated quite a bit of controversy, winning by 109 runs. However, India’s golden run was halted by hosts and eventual champions Australia in the last-four encounter as they went down by 95 runs.

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