History of India's WC Opening Matches From 1975 to 2007

1)India vs England, June 7, 1975: At the Lord’s, Madan Lal bowled the first ball in World Cup history. England racked up the highest ODI score - 334-4 with Dennis Amiss’ 137 and Chris Old's 30-ball 50. Sunil Gavaskar then played the most infamous innings of his life - 36 not out from 174 balls as India finished at a miserable 132-3 in 60 overs.

2) India vs WI, June 9, 1979, Edgbaston: It’s the first match of the World Cup. Only Gundappa Vishwanath shows spine, with his 75 taking India to 190 after being inserted by Clive Lloyd. Michael Holding takes 4-32, Gordon Greenidge scores 106 and India lose by 9 wickets.

3)India vs West Indies, June 9, 10, 1983, Old Trafford: India hand West Indies their first defeat in a World Cup. Yashpal Sharma’s 89 takes India to 262-8. The last wicket pair of Joel Garner and Michael Holding add 74 runs but India win by 34 runs on the reserve day.

4)India vs Australia, October 9, 1987, Chennai: Geoff Marsh’s 110 takes Australia to 270. India begin well with Srikkanth and Sidhu, who smashes five sixes on ODI debut. Craig McDermott takes 4-56 to lead a middle order collapse and Steve Waugh bowls out last man Maninder Singh to give Australia a one-run win.

5) India vs England, Feb 22, 1992, Perth: It’s the first day of the Cup and Robin Smith scores a swift 91 to take England to 236-9. India begin well with Srikkanth and Shartri, but the middle order collapses as they finish nine runs short in the final over.

6)India vs Kenya, Feb 18, 1996, Cuttack: Steve Tikolo’s 65 takes the ODI debutants to 199-6. India make short work of it with Sachin Tendulkar’s 127 and Jadeja’s 53.

7)India vs South Africa, May 15, 1999, Hove: Sourav Ganguly’s delectable 97 sets up India who finish poorly to reach 253-5. Despite two early wickets, Jacques Kallis’ 96 steers SA to safety before Jonty Rhodes and Lance Klusener seal a four-wicket win.

8)India vs Netherlands, Feb 12, 2003, Paarl: India’s batsmen facing a severe form problem struggle to 204 with just Tendulkar crossing 50. Luckily the bowlers save the day for India with J Srinath and Anil Kumble taking four wickets each leading to a comfortable 68-run win.

9)
India vs Bangladesh, March 17, 2007, Port of Spain: Bangladesh cause a massive upset, shooting India out for just 191 with Mashrafe Mortaza taking 4-38. Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan score fifties leading to a comfortable five-wicket win.