At the stroke of the 14th hour of October 8, a dream will be flagged off. A dream of 1.4 billion Indians will rest on the shoulders of Rohit Sharma and his Men in Blue to win cricket’s holy grail - The ICC Cricket World Cup - for the third time.

The seeds of ‘Dare to Dream’ successfully bore fruit in 1983, and the tree rose again in 2011. Will 2023 be another year for the Tree of Fate to stand tall on Indian soil? Let’s rewind the clock and reminisce about the journey this magnificent team of talents undertook in the previous 12 editions of the CWC.

1975

A relatively fresh face in ODI cricket, the Indian cricket team - led by S Venkataraghavan - were placed in Group A alongside hosts England, New Zealand and East Africa. The team didn’t quite settle into the rhythms of limited-overs cricket, with the only win coming against East Africa, bowing out in the group stage.

Finish position	Group Stage
Winner	West Indies
Highest run-scorer for India	Sunil Gavaskar - 113 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Glenn Turner - 333 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Syed Abid Ali - 6 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Gary Gilmour - 11 wickets

1979

If one had to label the Indian contingent’s tour of England for the 1979 WC, it would be ‘a forgettable memory’. Why? Three games, three defeats and falling short of registering a 200-plus total in a single game. End result? A last-place finish in Group B - featuring West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Finish position	Group Stage
Winner	West Indies
Highest run-scorer for India	Gundappa Vishwanath - 106 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Gordon Greenidge - 253 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Mohinder Amarnath - 4 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Mike Hendrick - 10

1983

The Miracle at Lord’s is the origin of India’s rise as a major cricket powerhouse. Clubbed with two-time defending champions West Indies, Australia and Zimbabwe in Group B, India’s road to glory began with an odds-defying upset of the Windies in the league phase. A six-wicket triumph over hosts England set up a historic World Cup final between WI and IND. Kapil Dev’s fate-changing catch to dismiss Viv Richards ignited India’s iconic push to defend 183 successfully. Be it his 175 against Zimbabwe or 5/43 against England, Kapil took a fledgling dream and made it an iconic memory for generations.

Finish position	Champions
Winner	India
Highest run-scorer for India	Kapil Dev - 303 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	David Gower - 384 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Roger Binny - 18 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Roger Binny - 18 wickets

1987

Kapil’s Devils fell short of defending their World Cup title at home. After losing their opening game to Australia, India bounced back to claim four wins - including a reverse 56-run triumph over AUS - to storm into their second consecutive semi-finals. However, England broke Indian hearts, and Sunil Gavaskar (India’s leading run-getter in the 1987 edition) drew curtains on his impressive career.

Finish position	Semi-finals
Winner	Australia
Highest run-scorer for India	Sunil Gavaskar - 300 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Graham Gooch - 471 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Maninder Singh - 14 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Craig McDermott - 18 wickets

1992

It was a tournament of change - coloured jerseys, new play format - where India had a torrid time in Australia and New Zealand. The Men in Blue failed to reach the World Cup semis for the first time since 1979 after finishing seventh on the points table (two wins, five defeats and 1 NR in eight games).

Finish position	Round-robin stage
Winner	Pakistan
Highest run-scorer for India	Mohammed Azharuddin - 332 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Martin Crowe - 456 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Manoj Prabhakar - 12 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Wasim Akram - 18 wickets

1996

Co-hosts of the CWC for the second time, India marched their way into the semis until their ambition to reach a first World Cup final since 1983 was quashed by eventual winners Sri Lanka. The overriding positive from this tournament was Sachin Tendulkar becoming the first player to notch up 500 runs in a single edition of a World Cup. His consistent form in the tournament saw him hitting 50-plus scores in all but two games.

Finish position	Semi-finals
Winner	Sri Lanka
Highest run-scorer for India	Sachin Tendulkar - 523 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Sachin Tendulkar - 523 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Anil Kumble - 15 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Anil Kumble - 15 wickets

1999

An indifferent tournament ensued for India, with back-to-back losses in their opening group-stage encounters before three wins - against Kenya, Sri Lanka and England - ensured that they went into the Super Six stage. But, their stay was cut short, with the only win coming against Pakistan. On a positive note, this CWC edition marked the beginning of a revolution set in motion by Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, who would join Tendulkar to mark the arrival of the Big 3, who’d serve Indian cricket for years to come.

Finish position	Super Six
Winner	Australia
Highest run-scorer for India	Rahul Dravid - 461 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Rahul Dravid - 461 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Javagal Srinath - 12 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Geoff Allott and Shane Warne - 20 wickets

2003

In a tournament they entered with a team filled with experience and prodigious talent, India was one of the best-performing teams - eight wins and two defeats. So, who did they lose those two games to? Australia, one in the league phase and the other in the 2003 WC final - which the Men in Blue reached after a gap of 20 years.

Finish position	Runners-up
Winner	Australia
Highest run-scorer for India	Sachin Tendulkar - 673 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Sachin Tendulkar - 673 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Zaheer Khan - 18 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Chaminda Vaas - 23 wickets

2007

A major disappointment, and perhaps the end of an era. Losing their first game to Bangladesh, India, who were touted to make the top four, lost their third game to Sri Lanka as well and got knocked out. The only saving grace from their campaign was the 257-run victory against Bermuda, where India registered 413/5 (a then-record highest team total in a World Cup game).

Finish position	Group Stage
Winner	Australia
Highest run-scorer for India	Virender Sehwag - 164 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Matthew Hayden - 659 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Zaheer Khan - 5 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Glenn McGrath - 26 wickets

2011

Host the World Cup. Check. Win the World Cup. Double Check. Twenty-eight years after overcoming all odds to win cricket’s holy grail, India lifted the 2011 ODI World Cup amidst the sea of blue at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing dream was fulfilled. MS Dhoni, who ended India’s ICC silverware drought in 2007 with the T20 World Cup win, etched himself in folklore by hitting the winning runs against Sri Lanka with THAT iconic six over long-on.

Finish position	Winners
Winner	India
Highest run-scorer for India	Sachin Tendulkar - 482 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Tillakaratne Dilshan - 500 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Zaheer Khan - 21 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Shahid Afridi and Zaheer Khan - 21 wickets

2015

With only four members from the 2011 winning team, India went on a winning streak (6-0 in the league phase and a 109-run victory over Bangladesh in the quarter-final) right up till the semi-finals. But once again, it was Australia who proved to be too difficult to put away at home, batting the Men in Blue out of the semi-final at Sydney.

Finish position	Semi-finals
Winner	Australia
Highest run-scorer for India	Shikhar Dhawan - 412 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Martin Guptill - 547 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Umesh Yadav - 18 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult - 22 wickets

2019

Besides Rohit Sharma hogging the limelight for his record five centuries in a single ODI World Cup and notching the most runs by a batter in a tournament (648 runs), India showed their mettle as one of the top contenders for the trophy. They topped the league table with seven wins and one defeat and qualified for the semis, where they would meet New Zealand. In a match that stretched over two days, thanks to the rain, Martin Guptill’s direct hit caught MS Dhoni an inch short of the crease in the tense chase, and, thereby India’s hopes.

Finish position	Semi-finals
Winner	England
Highest run-scorer for India	Rohit Sharma - 648 runs
Overall highest run-scorer	Rohit Sharma - 648 runs
Highest wicket-taker for India	Jasprit Bumrah - 18 wickets
Overall highest wicket-taker	Mitchell Starc - 27 wickets