3 times India won five consecutive matches in an ODI World Cup ft. 2023
India shook the proverbial monkey off their back by beating rivals New Zealand in a group-stage game in the ongoing ICC Men's ODI World Cup in Dharamsala on Sunday.
New Zealand had proven to be India's kryptonite when it came to ICC events in the last 10 years, with the Men in Blue's victory over them in Centurion in 2003 being the last occasion on which they prevailed over the Black Caps.
With regular skipper Kane Williamson ruled out owing to a fractured thumb, wicketkeeper Tom Latham did his best to rally his troops. The Kiwis put up a moderate total on the board, but it still took India quite some time to chase it down.
Chase master Virat Kohli was at his regal best. India, by the end of the evening, had won five consecutive matches in the ongoing World Cup and topped the table owing to their unbeaten run.
This is, however, not the first time that the Men in Blue have won five games in a row at a World Cup event. In this listicle, we bring to you three times India won five consecutive matches in an ODI World Cup:
#1. 1987 World Cup
The World Cup in 1987, held for the first time in the subcontinent, was also the first occasion on which the Men in Blue (they did not wear blue back then, of course, and played in whites instead) won five matches in a row at the quadrennial event.
Incidentally, this was also one of the few times India beat New Zealand in a World Cup match; Kapil Dev's men humbled the Black Caps in Bengaluru by 16 runs. This was the first win of their five-match winning run, followed by the humbling of Zimbabwe, Australia, Zimbabwe (again) and New Zealand (again).
India seemed to be on course to win their second consecutive World Cup (after the heroic turn of events in 1983) but lost to Mike Gatting and Graham Gooch's masterpieces at the Wankhede in the semifinal.
#2. 2003 World Cup
The 2003 World Cup, held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, was a tournament that India were primed to win. Few Indian cricket aficionados will forget the damaging knock played by Australia captain Ricky Ponting in the final at the Wanderers in Johannesburg which put paid to Sourav Ganguly's men's dreams.
In this World Cup, India lost to the Kangaroos in the group stage early on but then managed to put together a run of eight consecutive wins (against Zimbabwe, Namibia, England, Pakistan, Kenya, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Kenya again.)
India seemed unbeatable until Ricky Ponting broke a billion hearts in Johannesburg. If there was any side that seemed capable of beating India in such imperious form that year, it was the Kangaroos.
#3. 2023 World Cup
The ongoing 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup is another event in which the Men in Blue have managed to put together a string of five consecutive wins.
Starting with an absolute rollicking of Australia, Rohit Sharma's men have managed to lay Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand on the wayside by now.
The Men in Blue will hope that they can continue in the same run of form and take home the title for the second time in a row on home soil.
Incidentally, since 2011, all the World Cups have been won by the countries hosting them (2011 - India, 2015 - Australia and 2019 - England.) India are the favourites to win the trophy now and will have no one to blame but themselves if they don't go all the way from here.