India reached the final of 2003 World Cup with a combination of all-round cricket, helpful schedule and imaginative captaincy. They met the defending champions twice in the tournament but could not get past them both times - that probably justified their end position as runners-up. Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged Man of the Tournament for his bucketful of runs but even he mentioned that he would have been happier if India had won the tournament than the individual award.
India had prepared well for this World Cup, especially in terms of strategy and team selection. The team composition was settled and everyone had a defined role to play. Sourav Ganguly and John Wright had gelled well with the entire team for once. The team looked fitter and faster than ever before. All departments had been taken care - before the World Cup Sourav Ganguly requested Srinath to play one last time to guide the rest of the relatively inexperienced pace attack. One sour note here was the absence of VVS Laxman in the Indian lineup (Dinesh Mongia was preferred ahead of him due to his additional bowling skills).
To India's luck, they did have some easy matches like the ones with Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Kenya (in the league and semifinal). But, they did notch up good wins against tougher opponents. Let us revisit the matches that India won against the test-playing nations.
England at Durban - This match can be called as The Ashish Nehra show. While batting first, the top six Indian batsmen got runs but only Sachin at the beginning and Dravid at the end of the innings could score a fifty. The total of 250 was challenging considering the second innings conditions under light and aiding swing. But, the English batsmen would not have expected the Indian performance even in their wildest dreams. One after the other, they could not lay bat on ball as the three pacers moved the ball generously. Nehra was the one who got the maximum rewards as catches flew to the keeper and slips regularly. Seeing his form, Ganguly completed Nehra's quota by the 30th over itself. England's score then was 107 for 8. Despite Flintoff's valiant effort, it was India all the way to the next round.
Pakistan at Centurion - Please refer Win #29 for more details on this match.
Sri Lanka at Johannesburg - India's record over Sri Lanka on neutral pitches has always been very strong. Even though the forecast was for a helpful pitch to the bowlers, Sachin and Sehwag put on a 150 run partnership in quick time. The momentum slowed down to the end but the end total was a huge one for the Lankans (292). When it was time to bowl, the pitch started to show a different nature all of a sudden, That is what everyone watching the match must have thought - Srinath, Zaheer and Nehra bowled one unplayable delivery after the other to reduce their opponents to 78-9. The innings folded after 23 overs only - such was the dominance of the Indian bowlers.
New Zealand at Centurion - India had qualified for the semifinal even before playing this match against Black Caps. But the team was determined to post a seventh win in a row. For a change, the Indians were bowling first in this match. While Nehra and Srinath garnered attention in the previous matches, it was the turn of Zaheer to bring himself into the limelight in this match. Using the conditions as well as his experience, Zaheer plucked four wickets to keep the Black Caps on the backfoot throughout their innings (getting two wickets in the first over itself was a bonus). Thanks to good support provided by the rest of the bowlers, the Indians wrapped the innings at 146. Despite Bond's effort, Dravid and Kaif with individual fifties took the Indians win the match with ten overs to spare.
To India's luck, they did have some easy matches like the ones with Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Kenya (in the league and semifinal). But, they did notch up good wins against tougher opponents. Let us revisit the matches that India won against the test-playing nations.
England at Durban - This match can be called as The Ashish Nehra show. While batting first, the top six Indian batsmen got runs but only Sachin at the beginning and Dravid at the end of the innings could score a fifty. The total of 250 was challenging considering the second innings conditions under light and aiding swing. But, the English batsmen would not have expected the Indian performance even in their wildest dreams. One after the other, they could not lay bat on ball as the three pacers moved the ball generously. Nehra was the one who got the maximum rewards as catches flew to the keeper and slips regularly. Seeing his form, Ganguly completed Nehra's quota by the 30th over itself. England's score then was 107 for 8. Despite Flintoff's valiant effort, it was India all the way to the next round.
Pakistan at Centurion - Please refer Win #29 for more details on this match.
Sri Lanka at Johannesburg - India's record over Sri Lanka on neutral pitches has always been very strong. Even though the forecast was for a helpful pitch to the bowlers, Sachin and Sehwag put on a 150 run partnership in quick time. The momentum slowed down to the end but the end total was a huge one for the Lankans (292). When it was time to bowl, the pitch started to show a different nature all of a sudden, That is what everyone watching the match must have thought - Srinath, Zaheer and Nehra bowled one unplayable delivery after the other to reduce their opponents to 78-9. The innings folded after 23 overs only - such was the dominance of the Indian bowlers.
New Zealand at Centurion - India had qualified for the semifinal even before playing this match against Black Caps. But the team was determined to post a seventh win in a row. For a change, the Indians were bowling first in this match. While Nehra and Srinath garnered attention in the previous matches, it was the turn of Zaheer to bring himself into the limelight in this match. Using the conditions as well as his experience, Zaheer plucked four wickets to keep the Black Caps on the backfoot throughout their innings (getting two wickets in the first over itself was a bonus). Thanks to good support provided by the rest of the bowlers, the Indians wrapped the innings at 146. Despite Bond's effort, Dravid and Kaif with individual fifties took the Indians win the match with ten overs to spare.
India, as mentioned earlier, lost only to Australia twice in the Cup but showed great promise in all the other matches. They rightly finished as the No.2 team behind the dominant Aussies.
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