ICC World Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma-led India are playing Netherlands in their ninth ICC World Cup 2023 round-robin match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday (November 12, 2023). India have already booked a place in semi-finals, thrashing Sri Lanka by 302 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 2, 2023. India will face New Zealand in the ongoing World Cup semi-final match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday (November 15). This is the seventh time India have entered into the last-four stage of the 50-over World Cup. 

India first entered semifinals of the World Cup at the 1983 Prudential Cup in England, where they emerged as the tournament winners.

They moved into the last-four stage on the next two occasions when the World Cup was held in India, in 1987 and 1996.

India were in semi-finals in 2003 in South Africa.

Eight years later, they were again in last four at the 2011 World Cup as hosts, and repeated their feat in 2015, 2019, and 2023.

It means that in their last six World Cups, India have been in the semi-finals on five occasions.

In this write-up, ZeeBiz will take you through the memory lane of India’s semifinal journey in the biggest cricket extravaganza in the world.
 

1983 Prudential Cup, against England

Having lost in the first round of the 1975 and 1979 World Cups, India were underdogs in the third World Cup, which was being held in England for the third consecutive time.

However, in the World Cup, India wronged many of their critics, reaching semi-finals and playing against mighty hosts England in Manchester on June 22.

Skipper Kapil Dev struck three wickets while Roger Binny and Man-of-the-Match Mohinder Amarnath took two each as India restricted England to 213 all out in 60 overs.

In reply, Mohinder Amarnath played a useful innings of 46, while Yashpal Sharma scored a fine 61.

Sandeep Patil played a fiery innings of 51 not out in just 32 balls as India stormed into semifinals for the first time, beating England by six wickets with 5.2 overs to spare.   
 

1987 Reliance Cup, against England

Four years later, the World Cup was being played outside England for the first time, and it was India which was hosting it.

In a co-incidence, India was against England in the semi-finals once again, at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on November 5.

This time, England’s Man-of-the-Match skipper Graham Gooch smashed 115 runs in 136 balls to lay a solid foundation for his team’s fighting total of 254 for 6 wickets.

India, one of the favourites to win the World Cup, were very much on the path to victory till Mohammad Azharuddin, who top-scored with 64 runs was at the crease.

But with the fall of his wicket, the Indian lower order collapsed like a house of placards as India lost the match by 35 runs.
    

1996 Wills World Cup, against Sri Lanka

The 1996 Cricket World Cup is known for Sri Lanka’s emergence as a cricketing power on the horizon of world cricket and the beginning of Sachin Tendulkar’s extraordinary dominance in batting history.

Playing in the first semi-final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 13, India were favourites again, and they raised their hopes when they managed to restrict Sri Lanka to 251 for 8 in 50 overs despite Man-of-the-Match Aravinda de Silva’s 66 and Roshan Mahanama’s 58.

India seamer Javagal Srinath took three top-order wickets, including Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana.

Fans at the Eden Garden were cheering loudly till Tendulkar was at the crease.

But once he fell for 65 with the team at 98, India suffered one of the worst collapses in the batting history of the World Cups.

The crowd turned angry and hostile towards Sri Lanka, creating a ruckus at the stadium, and the match was interrupted.

With no respite from onlookers’ side, umpires decided to call off the match when India were reeling at 120 for eight in 34.1 overs.

The long-lasting memories of the crowd’s bad behaviour and a weeping Vinod Kambli returning to the pavilion are still fresh in the memories of the cricket fans of that generation.
 

2003 World Cup, against Kenya

India were playing underdogs Kenya in the last-four stage match in Durban on March 20.

With Man-of-the-Match India skipper Sourav Ganguly scoring an unbeaten 111 runs in 114 balls and Man-of-the-Tournament Tendulkar scoring an 111-ball 83, India comfortably scored 270 for four wickets in 50 overs.

In reply, Kenya were no match for Indian dominance, and barring their skipper Steve Tikolo, who top-scored with 56 runs, no Kenyan batsman could score more than 29 runs.

With Zaheer Khan taking 3 wickets in 9.2 overs for just 14 runs, India could easily beat Kenya by 91 runs.

Though India breezed into semi-finals easily, the tournament is also remembered for Kenya’s best run in the World Cup as the team from a country with limited cricket facilities and no proper grassroots structure could reach as far as semi-finals.
 

2011 World Cup, against Pakistan

Fans from India and Pakistan wouldn’t have expected a better occasion than a World Cup for the meeting of two teams.

The World Cup returned to India after 1996, and India and Pakistan were facing each other in the second semi-final at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on March 30.

Man-of-the-Match Tendulkar rose to the occasion, scoring 85 runs for India.

Virender Sehwag scored 38 while Suresh Raina remained unbeaten on 36 as India scored 260 for 9 in 50 overs.

Pakistan seamer Wahab Riaz took 5 for 46 in 10 overs. In reply, Pakistan batsmen Misbah-ul-Haq (56 runs) and Mohammad Hafeez (43 runs) showed some resistance from Pakistan, but in lack of a big innings lower down the order hit Pakistan’s prospects badly as they were all out for 231 runs in 49.5 overs.

India moved to finals and beat Sri Lanka to win their second World Cup title.
 

2015 World Cup, against Australia

India were playing against Australia in the second semi-final of the 2015 World Cup in Sydney on March 26. Australia outplayed India in almost all departments of the game.

Australian Man-of-the-Match Steve Smith (105 runs in 93 balls) and Aaron Finch (81 runs in 116 balls) were the guiding forces in taking Australia to 328 runs for 7 wickets in 50 overs.

In reply, India needed a few big innings, but apart from skipper MS Dhoni (65 runs in 65 balls), Shikhar Dhawan (45 runs in 34 balls), and Ajinkya Rahane (44 runs in 68 balls), the batting order collapsed miserably as India lost the match by 95 runs.
 

2019 World Cup, against New Zealand

The cricket World Cup returned to England for the fifth time.

India were playing their sixth semi-finals at a place where they played their first World Cup semi-final in 1983, Manchester. However, with a different team- New Zealand.

Indian bowlers raised hopes when they restricted New Zealand to 239 for 8 in 50 overs with Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking three wickets.

Ross Taylor 74 runs (90 balls) and skipper Kane Willamson 67 runs (95 balls) were the top scorers for New Zealand. But Kiwi Man-of-the-Match bowler Matt Henry sent openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma back to the pavilion soon, followed by the dismissal of Dinesh Karthik in the 10th over of India’s innings.

With the Indian top-order failing, Ravindra Jadeja (77 runs in 59 balls) and wicketkeeper MS Dhoni (50 runs in 72 balls) tried to steady the Indian ship.

But once they fell, it was all over for India as they lost the battle by 18 runs.

2023 World Cup, against New Zealand

To be played