India's World Cup Journey

India’s Journey of Cricket World Cups
1975
Hosted by England, this cup was called The Prudential Cup. The final was played between West Indies and Australia. West Indies registered its victory in the first ever Cricket World Cup and the trophy was lifted by Clive Lloyd. India ended up sixth in the list of eight nations competing. Seventh and eighth spots went to Sri Lanka and East Africa which were non test playing nations at that time.

1979
The hosts England lost the final to the reigning champions West Indies and Clive Lloyd re-enacted the scene of lifting the trophy. India however fell one place in the ranks better than just Canada who rested at the eighth spot.

1983
India beat England in the semi-final to face mighty West Indies in the final. India won the match despite of putting up an ordinary total of 183 on the board for West Indies to chase, who in turn tumbled at a mere 140, thanks to Mohinder Amarnath’s magical figure of 3/12. Kapil Dev became the first and till date the only Indian captain to lift the Cricket World Cup.

1987
India along with Pakistan were the hosts for this cup,also known as The Reliance World Cup. India could only manage to reach the semi-final where it was dealt firmly with at the hands of England. Australia beat England in the final and the trophy was lifted by Allan Border.

1992
This was the Bensen and Hedges World Cup ogganised by Australia and New Zealand. It adopted the round robin format in which each team faced every other team once. India won only 2 out of the 8 matches that it played during the tournament. Pakistan won this cup by beating England. Mohammad Azharuddin was the captain of this Indian side. Also, world saw the young face of Sachin Tendulkar, the best cricketer born so far. India however, was ranked just better than Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

1996
This world cup was co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri-Lanka. 12 nations participated in it. India did well in the Quarter Final by beating Pakistan to face Sri Lanka in the Semi-Final. When India began losing wickets in quick successions while chasing target given by the Lankans, the crowd of Eden Gardens became restless and began rioting. As a result of which the match referee Clive Lloyd had to award the match to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka went on to win the final against Australia. Sri Lanka remained undefeated throughout the tournament though it won two matches by walkover. There were reasons for the Indians to cheer as well because Sachin was the leading batsman of the tournament with 531 runs and Kumble became the leading wicket-taker with 15 wickets.

1999
This World Cup was hosted by England with support from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Netherlands. India barely managed to reach the super 6 but could not manage to reach the semi-final. The cup was lifted by Australia who beat Pakistan in the final match.

2003
Hosts were South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. India easily defeated Kenya in the semi-final to clash against Australia in the Final. Batting first, Australia piled up a mammoth total of 359 runs to which India’s reply was just 234 all out. India almost touched the 2003 World Cup and came back. Sachin (673) and Saurav (465) were the leading scorers of the tournament.

2007
West Indies hosted this tournament. India’s compose was upset by Bangladesh who defeated them by 5 wickets in a group match. Further India’s defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh’s victory over Bermuda confirmed India’s return ticket home without having seen the face of the super 8. This was a major setback to all the Indian cricket fans back home.

2011
This year’s World cup is being hosted in the Indian sub-continent once again. India is all set to decimate anyone that comes in between the cup and the team. Let us hope what we saw in the warm up matches was not just a mirage of success but a trailer of it.