A look at India`s previous campaigns at ICC World Cup

The Indian men's cricket team emerged out as the winners of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup twice in 1983 and 2011. In 1983, the Kapil Dev-led Men in Blue thrashed the then formidable West Indies by 43 runs to pick up their first glory at the cricket's showpiece event before the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Indian team defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets on their home soil at the Wankhede Stadium to clinch their second World Cup title after a wait of 28-long years.

Meanwhile, India had also finished as the runners-up during the 2003 edition of the World Cup besides also ending as the semifinalists thrice i.e in 1987, 1996 and 2015.

Now, in the ongoing 2019 edition of the mega event, the Virat Kohli-led Team India headed into the tournament in the England and Wales as one of the favourites to lift the trophy. 

India, who are currently standing at the top spot in the ICC ODI Rankings, are currently placed at the second position with five wins from six matches they have played so far in the quadrennial event. Their clash against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to incessant rain. 

Let us take a look at India's previous campaigns at the ICC World Cup:

1975 

In the first-ever Cricket World Cup which was held in June 1975in England, India--led by off-spinner Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan at that time--were knocked out in the group stage of the tournament.  The Men in Blue finished at the third position in their Group B after winning just one out of the three matches they played. 

1979

The second edition of the ICC World Cup was also held in England, with India once again crashing out of the tournament in the group stage. In contrast to 1975, India had an even worse campaign in 1979 as they finished winless and last in their group.

1983

Much opposite to the expectations, India tasted their first glory at the ICC World Cup with a victory over West Indies in the finals of the tournament at Lord's in London on June 25, 1983. En route to the finals, the Kapil Dev-led India won four out of their six matches of Group B before they defeated England by six wickets in the semi-finals of the tournament in Manchester. 

1987

The 1987 edition of the World Cup was co-hosted by India and their arch-rivals Pakistan. The then Kapil Dev-led India entered the tournament as favourites and were expected to defend their title successfully in familiar conditions.  The Men in Blue comfortably qualified for the semi-finals after winning five of their six group stage matches, only to see themselves losing to England by 35 runs to bow out of the tournament.

1992

The Indian men's cricket team, led by Mohammad Azharuddin at that time, were bowed out of the ICC World Cup 1992 in the round-robin stage after winning just two out of the eight matches they played during the mega event. The Men in Blue's one clash against Sri Lanka was washed out due to rain, while their only two victories in the tournament came against arch-rivals Pakistan by 43 runs and against Zimbabwe by 55 runs. 

1996 

India came up with a much better performance in the 1996 World Cup under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin. The Men in Blue won three out of the five matches to make it to the quarterfinals. India defeated their arch-rivals Pakistan by 39 runs to set up a semi-final clash against Sri Lanka, only to see themselves making a last-four exit from the tournament. 

1999

For the 1999 edition of the World Cup, the teams were divided into two groups of six teams each, with the top three teams in each group progressing to the Super Six stage. After clinching victories in three out of their five group stage matches, India assured their place in the Super Six stage, where they were slated to face Australia, arch-rivals Pakistan and then New Zealand. While India slumped to a 77-run defeat at the hands of Australia, they managed to maintain their clean sheet against Pakistan at the World Cup. However, they suffered a five-wicket loss against New Zealand to bow out of the tournament. 

2003

In 2003 edition of the mega event, the Sourav Ganguly-led India finished as the runner-ups in the tournament after losing the final at the hands of Australia by 125 runs. En route to the summit showdown, India had won nine out of the 11 matches of the tournament. 

2007

India had a quite disappointing campaign in the 2007 edition of the mega event. The Rahul Dravid-led side was knocked out of the 2007 World Cup in the group stage after winning just one out of the three games.

2011

After a 28-year-long wait, India had finally managed to pick up only their second title at the World Cup in 2011. As one of the three host nations--other being Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, India were expected to do well in familiar conditions and the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side did not disappoint as they defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to lift the trophy.  Overall, India had won seven out of the nine games they played during the tournament. 

2015 

India finished as the semi-finalists in the 2015 edition of the quadrennial event which was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.  India finished their group stage unbeaten before they slumped to the eventual champions Australia in the semifinal by 95 runs.