New Delhi: After a month of cricketing action and 45 intense clashes between top teams, the tournament has finally reached its knockout stage and four top teams India, Australia, Newzealand, and South Africa have made it there by playing better cricket than the rest of the 6 teams.
Out of these 4 mighty semi-finalists, India and New Zealand will be locking horns today in the high-octane game that will be played in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium from 2:PM ownwards. Notably, this will be the second consecutive time that the Men in Blue will face the Kiwi challenge in the semi-finals of the multi-nation tournament.
So far, Team India made it to the semis of the ICC ODI World Cup 7 times out, of which they have emerged victorious thrice and faced defeat 4 times.
Overall: Played 7, Won 3, Lost 4
In India: Played 3, Won 1, Lost 2
Here is a round-up of all 7 semi-final matches of India in the history of ODI Cricket World Cup.
World Cup Semis AT HOME
1. India vs England (1987)
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Bombay
Brief Scores: England 254-6 in 50 overs (Graham Gooch 115, Mike Gatting 56, Allan Lamb 32 not out; Kapil Dev 2-38, Maninder Singh 3-54) defeated India 219 all out in 45.3 overs (Krishnamachari Srikkanth 31, Mohammad Azharuddin 64, Kapil Dev 30; Neil Foster 3-47, Eddie Hemmings 4-52). Man of the match: G Gooch. Toss: India
2. India vs Sri Lanka (1996)
Venue: Eden Gardens, Calcutta
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 251-8 in 50 overs (Aravinda de Silva 66, Roshan Mahanama 58, Arjuna Ranatunga 35, Hashan Tillekaratne 32; Javagal Srinath 3-34; Sachin Tendulkar 2-34) defeated India 120-8 in 34.1 overs (Sachin Tendulkar 65, Sanjay Manjrekar 25; Sanath Jayasuriya 3-12, Aravinda de Silva 1-3) by default after crowd trouble. Man of the match: Aravinda de Silva. Toss: India
3. India vs Pakistan (2011)
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium, Mohali
Brief Scores: India 260-9 in 50 overs (Virender Sehwag 38, Sachin Tendulkar 85, Suresh Raina 36 not out; Wahab Riaz 5-46, Saeed Ajmal 2-44) defeated Pakistan 231 all out in 49.5 overs (Ashish Nehra 2-33, Munaf Patel 2-40) by 29 runs. Man of the match: S. Tendulkar. Toss: India
World Cup Semis ABROAD
1. India vs England (1983)
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
Brief Scores: England 213 all out in 60 overs (Graeme Fowler 33, Chris Tavare 32, Allan Lamb 29; Kapil Dev 3-32, Roger Binny 2-43, Mohinder Amarnath 2-27) lost to India 217-4 in 54.4 overs (Mohinder Amarnath 46, Yashpal Sharma 61, Sandeep Patil 51 not out; Ian Botham 1-40) by six wickets. Man of the match: M Amarnath. Toss: England
2. India vs Kenya (2003)
Venue: Kingsmead, Durban
Brief Scores: India 270-4 in 50 overs (Virender Sehwag 33, Sachin Tendulkar 83, Sourav Ganguly 111 not out; Peter Ongondo 1-38) defeated Kenya 179 all out in 46.2 overs (Steve Tikolo 56, Collins Obuya 29; Zaheer Khan 3-14, Ashish Nehra 2-11, Sachin Tendulkar 2-28) by 91 runs. Man of the match: S Ganguly. Toss: India
3. India vs Australia (2015)
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
Brief Scores: Australia 328-7 in 50 overs (Aaron Finch 81, Steven Smith 105; Umesh Yadav 4-72; Mohit Sharma 2-75) defeated India 233 all out in 46.5 overs (Rohit Sharma 34, Shikhar Dhawan 45, Ajinkya Rahane 44, MS Dhoni 65; Mitchell Starc 2-28, James Faulkner 3-59) by 95 runs. Man of the match: S Smith. Toss: Australia.
4. India vs New Zealand (2019)
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
Brief Scores: New Zealand 239-8 in 50 overs (Kane Williamson 67, Ross Taylor 74; Bhuvneshwar Ku.mar 3-43) defeated India 221 all out in 49.3 overs (Rishab Pant 32, Hardik Pandya 32, MS Dhoni 55, Ravindra Jadeja 77; Trent Boult 2-42, Matt Henry 3-37, Mitchell Santner 3-32) by 18 runs. Man of the match: M Henry. Toss: New Zealand.
Past masters
Current India team players who have played in the 50-over World Cup earlier
2011: Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin
2015: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami
2019: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya*, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumran, Kuldeep Yadav.
(Hardik Pandya ruled out of this World Cup after playing matches due to ankle injury)