India’s top 3 wins against Australia in World Cup history

As the Indian cricket team gear up for the mega-challenge with their opening clash of the World Cup 2023 to be played against Australia at Chennai, a lot will be on the line. With two juggernauts set to go head-to-head, we decided to take a stroll down the memory lane and pick up three of India’s top games against Australia in the World Cup.

The Australians have been a far more dominating side from an overall perspective but when it comes to games that turned heads, India definitely have their own shares of joys. Out of the 12 times the two teams have met each other in the quadrennial extravaganza, India have won just four of them but in recent times, the Men in Blue have been pretty sensational with their exploits. Here are India’s three best victories against Australia in the World Cup.

1.    India won by 118 runs, Chelmsford, 1983

After braving Zimbabwe in a must-win game from a near-humiliating situation, India were caught on the precipice of another must-win encounter and this time they were up against Australia. Batting first, India managed to pile up 247, with  Yashpal Sharma’s 40 and Sandeep Patil’s quickfire 30 standing out. The Australian batting unit, which comprised of some explosive firepower in the form of Trevor Chappell, Graham Yallop, David Hookies and Allan Border were the firm favourites to knock India out of the competition. However, Balwinder Sandhu hit the stride straight up with the big wicket of Chappell while the duo of Madan Lal and Roger Binny razed through the famed Australian batting unit. Binny and Lal clinched eight wickets between them as India scripted a historic 118-run win.

2.    India won by five wickets, Ahmedabad, 2011

This particular year saw the Men in Blue running riot in the tournament and the entire unit came together to show the world that they were getting in place what was going to be the building blocks of an infallible empire. Batting first, Australia managed to amass 260 runs, an innings powered by Ricky Ponting who smashed a blistering ton before Ravichandran Ashwin got the better of him. Brad Haddin played a handy knock up front that shoehorned India into a tight corner. Despite losing Virender Sehwag early, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir allowed India to stabilize the ship, only for their engine room to lose fuel and suddenly come to an abrupt halt as the scorecard read 187/5. With Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina being the last recognized batting pair, a star-studded Aussie bowling unit was already sniffing blood on the waters. Despite the starry names of Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee to fend off, Yuvraj played another crucial knock, hammering away 57 from 65 balls as India powered their way to a humdinger victory.

3.    India won by 36 runs, London, 2019

The last World Cup saw India dictating terms by a fair mile until that infamous semi-final against New Zealand. In the long road to the semis, however, the Men in Blue proved to be inexorable. Against Australia, their prized batting unit smashed 352 runs with Shikhar Dhawan making his mark with a sensational 117 while Virat Kohli blasted a 77-ball-82. Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni came together to knit together a tempestuous partnership that helped India rack up a mammoth total on board. Australia got off to a feisty start for sure but despite their batters collectively putting up a firm show, it was the Indian bowling unit that time and time again and very insidiously started picking away at the wickets, slowing the Australians down. Sensational spells from Jasprit Bumrah (3/61) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/50) sealed the deal for India.