Looking back at India's previous World Cup final appearances ft. 2003
Team India will face Australia in the 2023 World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
After topping the league stage with nine wins out of nine, Rohit Sharma and company continued their unbeaten run in the tournament, defeating New Zealand by 70 runs in the first semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Batting first after winning the toss in the knockout clash, the Men in Blue posted an imposing total of 397/4. Skipper Rohit again got the side off to a rollicking start, hammering 47 off 29 balls.
Fellow opener Shubman Gill contributed 80 off 66, while Virat Kohli (117 off 113) and Shreyas Iyer (105 off 70) struck fine hundreds. Kohli’s ton was his 50th in ODIs, thus surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing record of 49 ODI hundreds.
On the bowling front, India did not have their best day. However, Mohammed Shami almost single-handedly bowled Team India to victory with figures of 7/57 - the best-ever bowling figures by an Indian in ODIs. Thanks to Shami’s heroics, the Kiwis were held to 327 despite Daryl Mitchell’s superb 134 off 119 balls.
With their win against New Zealand, the Men in Blue reached the final of an ODI World Cup for the fourth time.
Ahead of the big games, here’s a recap of how India have performed in their previous three one-day World Cup final appearances.
1983 - India beat West Indies by 43 runs (Lord’s)
India created history at Lord’s in 1983, defeating the mighty West Indies by 43 runs in a low-scoring final. The Windies won the toss and elected to field first in the final. Andy Roberts (3/32), Malcolm Marshall (2/24), Michael Holding (2/26), and Larry Gomes (2/49) combined to restrict India to 183.
Opener Kris Srikkanth top-scored with 38, while Sandeep Patil (27) and Mohinder Amarnath (26) made handy contributions. However, the rest of the Indian batting line-up could not stand up to the fearsome West Indies bowling attack.
At the halfway stage of the innings, West Indies looked set to complete a hat-trick of World Cup wins, having lifted the trophy in 1975 and 1979. However, India’s bowlers came up with a terrific performance to stun West Indies, who were bowled out for 140.
Amarnath (3/12) and Madan Lal (3/31) were the wreckers-in-chief, while Balwinder Sandhu (2/32), Roger Binny (1/23), and skipper Kapil Dev (1/21) also chipped in.
Before claiming a wicket, Kapil took a brilliant running catch to dismiss Sir Viv Richards (33) off Lal’s bowling. West Indies’ batting collapsed following Richards’ dismissal. Kapil famously went on to lift the World Cup trophy at the Lord’s balcony. World cricket was never the same again.
2003 - India lost to Australia by 125 runs (Johannesburg)
India’s run up to the 2003 World Cup final was somewhat similar to the one of the current squad.
They won all their matches heading into the summit clash, barring a nine-wicket hammering against Australia early in the tournament. The Men in Blue met the Aussies in the final in Johannesburg and came second best again.
India won the toss and elected to field first, a decision that backfired big time as Australia posted a massive 359/2 on the board. Adam Gilchrist (57 off 48) and Matthew Hayden (37 off 54) added 105 for the opening wicket. Skipper Ricky Ponting (140* off 121 balls), and Damien Martyn (88* off 84) then sent Indian bowlers on a leather hunt, adding an unbroken 234 runs for the third wicket.
India lost Sachin Tendulkar for 4 in the chase, caught and bowled off Glenn McGrath as he miscued a pull. They could never recover from the massive setback and folded up for 234 despite some resistance from Virender Sehwag (82 off 81).
McGrath (3/52) stood out for Australia with the ball, while Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds claimed two wickets each.
2011 - India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets (Mumbai)
India won their second ODI World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final of the 2011 edition at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. In a hard-fought summit clash, Sri Lanka batted first and put up 274/6 on the board.
The Lankans got off to a slow start, but Mahela Jayawardene (103* off 88) lifted the team with a brilliant hundred. Kumar Sangakkara (48 off 67), Nuwan Kulasekara (32 off 30) and Thisara Perera (22* off 9) also chipped in with handy contributions.
The Men in Blue got off to a disastrous start in the chase. Virender Sehwag (0) was trapped lbw by Lasith Malinga, while Tendulkar (18 off 14) also fell caught behind to the Sri Lankan pacer. Gautam Gambhir (97 off 122) and Virat Kohli (35 off 49) added 83 runs for the third wicket to steady the Indian innings.
Following Kohli’s dismissal, skipper MS Dhoni promoted himself to No. 5, ahead of Yuvraj Singh, in what proved to be a masterstroke. Dhoni smashed a legendary 91* off 79 balls, adding 109 runs for the fourth wicket with Gambhir.
After the latter’s dismissal, Yuvraj (21* off 24) came in and aided Dhoni in adding the finishing touches. Dhoni brought up the winning runs in style, launching Kulasekara into the stands for an iconic six.