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India's World Cup journey from 1983 - The sweet and the sour
By Binu Paul, SiliconIndia
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Saturday, 19 February 2011, 13:24 IST |
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2003 - Unexpected show, but disastrous end at the finals
Although started in a disastrous note with an unimpressive win against Holland and a humiliating loss against Australia, India fought back with a series of wins. India defeated Zimbabwe, Namibia, England and Pakistan in the remaining league matches. Entering the Super Six, India won all the three matches beating Kenya, Sri Lanka and New Zealand. India then once again defeated the surprised entry Kenya in the semis to face the defending champions Australia at the final. But the game saw the Aussies dominance with Gilchrist and Hayden giving a good start from where Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn kept going to finish the innings with Ponting remaining unbeaten on a century while Martyn was not out on 89. In response to the score of 359, all that India could manage was 234 with Virender Sehwag being the lone fighter with 82 runs. Sachin was awarded 'Man of the Tournament'.
2007 - Tournament of Humiliation
In 2007, Indian team landed in West Indies tagged as one of the top favorites for winning the championship, but was knocked out in the first round of the tournament itself. The team was a very balanced one with the wealth of a handful of experienced players and had 2 convincing home series wins against West Indies and Sri Lanka before the World Cup. The team had a disastrous start as they lost to Bangladesh in the opener and had to win the two remaining matches in their group. In the next match, India thrashed Bermuda with a 257 run win. At the final must-win match against Sri Lanka, India were all out for 185 in response to the Lankan score of 254, which marked India's exit from the World Cup.
