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The Indian team is all set to play its opening match in ICC World Cup 2019 when they take on South Africa on Wednesday, the 5th June 2019. India enters into the fray as the last participating team in the tournament.
The first four matches of the tournament have all been one-sided affairs. But the last two matches between South Africa and Bangladesh and between England and Pakistan have brought the tournament alive. The defeats suffered by South Africa and England has brought about a new dimension to the predictions.
On the eve of India’s first match in ICC World Cup 2019, let us revisit Team India’s performances in ICC tournaments in the UK over the years.
#1 World Cup 1975 and 1979
Like so many other teams, India’s first appearance in an ICC tournament was the first 60-over World Cup in 1975. During that time, the Indian team was at its primitive stage in ODIs. That was reflected in their performances in the first two World Cups held in England.
In 1975, India won only one match against associate nation East Africa. India’s World Cup debut in the UK against England started in a devastating note when Sunil Gavaskar carried his bat through for 60 overs scoring a mere 36 not out.
There was more disaster in store for Team India in the second edition of the World Cup in 1979 where India failed to win even a single match. The Indians were subjected to the ignominy of losing to the then associate nation Sri Lanka.
As an aftermath of India’s horrendous performances, S.Venkatraghavan who captained India in the first two World Cups was sacked. It was a pity that his ouster from captaincy was announced on the flight back home.
At the end of the first two World Cups in the UK, India’s performance touched the all-time low. Thankfully for India, they never met their arch-rival Pakistan in the first four editions of the World Cup. Their successful run against Pakistan started much later in the 1992 World Cup and is still in force going into World Cup 2019.
#2 World Cup 1983
From a position of habitual losers, India’s fortune turned in the third edition of World Cup 1983 in the UK. In this World Cup, Kapil’s devils, the rank outsiders, managed to become world champions against all odds.
The Captain himself led from the front when he scored an incredible 175 not out against Zimbabwe when the team was facing defeat at 17 for 5. That innings of Kapil Dev was adjudged by many as the best ever ODI innings played by an Indian for many reasons.
Team India’s third appearance in an ICC tournament in England has been a runaway success with Kapil Dev leading the Indians to their maiden World Cup victory.
It was Kapil Dev’s belief in himself and his team that won India the World Cup. In a recent interview, Kapil Dev has revealed that on the morning of the finals against the West Indies, he had carried a champagne bottle with him to the ground..
After the match, Kapil had the audacity to go to the West Indies dressing room and ask their Captain Clive Lloyd to part with the champagne bottles from the freezer since the West Indies, in any case, didn’t need them anymore.
#3 World Cup 1999
England was hosting a World Cup after a gap of 15 years in 1999. In the interim period of 15 years, India reached the semi-finals of World Cups played at home in 1987 and 1996.
After losing two successive World Cups so badly in 1992 and 1996, Mohammed Azharuddin was once again continued as Captain for the World Cup in England in 1999.
After the stupendous performance of the Indian team in England under Kapil Dev in 1983, the Indian fans were looking for a similar successful campaign for Team India at the same venue. But unfortunately, for India, it was not to be.
Interestingly enough, like in the ongoing World Cup, India’s first match was against South Africa which they lost by 4 wickets. But India’s biggest disappointment in that World Cup came in their next match against Zimbabwe when they lost to the minnows by three runs. In such a close match, India ended up conceding 50 extras.
India had to win all their three remaining league matches against Kenya, Sri Lanka, and England to reach the Super Sixes. India did exactly that and reached the Super Sixes at the expense of host England.
In the Super Sixes, India registered its customary World Cup win against Pakistan but crashed against Australia and New Zealand to bow out of the tournament.
#4 ICC Champions Trophy 2004
This was the first major ICC tournament in which India suffered its first defeat against Pakistan. That match at Birmingham was a close match in which India lost by three wickets with four balls to spare. That loss knocked India out of the tournament and England proved to be unlucky for India yet again.
#5 ICC Twenty 20 World Cup 2009
India was the defending champion in this tournament having won the inaugural Twenty 20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007.
In the Twenty 20 World Cup in England, India started on a positive note with easy wins against weaker teams like Bangladesh and Ireland.
But thereafter, everything went horribly wrong for India as they lost to West Indies, England, and South Africa consecutively.
Their narrow losses to England and South Africa sealed India’s fate in the tournament. It was once again a poor show by India in England.
#6 ICC Champions Trophy 2013
Team India’s fortune changed for the better in the ICC Champions Trophy held in England in 2013. It all started in the first match against South Africa when India piled up a massive score of 331 on the back of a century from opener Shikhar Dhawan.
Both West Indies and Pakistan couldn't muster a challenge for India as they beat them by a comfortable margin of eight wickets. Sri Lanka was thrashed by a similar margin in the semi-finals.
In the finals against England, MS Dhoni’s masterstroke in bringing Ishant Sharma on to bowl the 18th over paid rich dividends for India.
Before that Ishant was taken for 27 runs in 3 overs. But in his fourth over, he took the wickets Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara off successive deliveries.
In the end, India sneaked through by five runs. MS Dhoni became the only Captain in the World to win a 50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and the Champions Trophy.
The Indian top order Rohit Sharma(177), Shikhar Dhawan(363) and Virat Kohli(176) ensured that India remained unbeaten in the entire tournament. Happy days were back again for India in England.
#7 ICC Champions Trophy 2017
After India’s success in the Champions Trophy in England in 2013, a lot was expected from the team in 2017. India rekindled the expectations of the fans by thrashing Pakistan by 124 runs in the first match.
India lost to Sri Lanka by seven wickets even after scoring 321. Their next match against South Africa was a knockout game. In that match, South Africa lived up to their tag of “chokers”. From 140 for 2, South Africa collapsed to 191 all out. India reached the semi-finals by beating South Africa by eight wickets.
Bangladesh reached the semi-finals ahead of Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. India promptly thrashed them by nine wickets and reached the finals to meet Pakistan.
Up and until then, things were moving in the right direction as per the script for India. But in the finals, the moment Virat Kohli won the toss and put Pakistan into bat, it was game over for India. Pakistan heaped up 338 runs and crushed India by a massive margin. The Indian team was yet again in shambles in an ICC tournament in England.
One look at the above history suggests that it has been a roller coaster ride for India in ICC tournaments in the UK involving many emotional highs and lows.
After the downward slide in the Champions Trophy in 2017, the roller coaster is now expected to trek in the upward direction in this World Cup. Can Kohli emulate Kapil and Dhoni?
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