INDIA AT THE CRICKET WORLD CUP - 1 - ANSWERS

1. C. Madan Lal

In the first-ever match in Cricket World Cup (50-Over) on 7th June, 1975 at Lord's, London, between the host England and India, England won the toss and opted to bat first. Dennis Amiss, an elegant right hander from Birmingham, Warwickshire (Amiss later became a National Selector of English Team in 1992 and in November, 2007, became the Deputy Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board) and John Jameson (born in Bombay) opened the innings for England.

(Scorecard from the first innings of the first-ever World Cup Match)

For India, "Madan Lal Udhouram Sharma" (Madan Lal), who initially played for Punjab (his home state) and later Delhi in domestic circuit, opened the bowling; thus becoming the first bowler to deliver a bowl in the history of Cricket World Cup.

After his retirement in 1987, Madan Lal has been actively involved in the game in various capacities - coached the UAE team for 1996 Cricket World Cup and had a stint as India's national cricket coach between September 1996 and September 1997. He was also a member of the Selection Committee of India from 2000 and 2001.

2. C. Navjot Singh Sidhu

Till date, 14 Indians have scored at least one century in ODI World Cup. Ajay Jadeja (100* against Australia at the Oval - 1999 WC) and Vinod Kambli (106 against Zimbabwe at Kanpur - 1996 WC) each have scored one Century in World Cup.

However Navjot Singh Sidhu despite having 7 half centuries (4 half centuries in 1987 World Cup in a row including in his debut ODI thus becoming the first player to record four successive half-centuries on debut in ODIs that too in a World Cup) to his name, has not scored a century in World Cup. His 93 against Pakistan in the 1996 quarter-finals remains the highlight (highest score) of his World Cup career. In 10 World Cup innings, Sidhu scored 454 runs at an average of 45.4 and a strike rate of 78.82.

3. A. 1 run

The 1987 Cricket World Cup (or the Reliance Cup 1987), the fourth edition of World Cup, was the first one to organized outside England. It was held from 8 October to 8 November 1987 in India and Pakistan.

In the first ever World Cup match held in India, India faced Australia at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Madras on 9th October, 1987. Australia batting first after losing the toss amassed 270 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Dean Jones played a quick-fire innings of 39 from 35 balls which included 2 Sixes of which one was originally signaled as a "Four" (Australia's scorecard read as 268 for 6 at the close of their innings) by Umpire Dickie Bird after consulting Ravi Shastri, stationed at the boundary rope. This was before the introduction of a TV umpire, who has to his advantage multiple camera angles before making a decision.

During the innings break, the Australian team management had a talk with umpires over Bird’s decision, convincing them that Jones’s shot had crossed over the line. With skipper Kapil Dev’s approval, two more runs were added to the total. However India would later find out that generosity is a virtue that is not exactly rewarding in a sporting arena with high stakes in place as India bundled out for 269 after Maninder Singh was bowled by young Steve Waugh thus losing the match by only 1 run.

4. C. Kenya

The National Cricket team of Kenya is an associate member of the ICC since 1981. Prior to that Kenya along with Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda combined to form the East Africa cricket team, which became an associate member of the ICC in 1966 from which Kenya broke away in 1981 and joined the ICC in their own right as an associate member.

(Jubilant Kenyan players after beating West Indies to register their maiden ODI win in 1996 WC at Nehru Stadium, Pune)

However the team made its World Cup debut in the 1996 edition, the year they gained their One Day International (ODI) status. In their first ever match in World Cup led by Maurice Odumbe against India at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack on 18th February, 1996, all the 11 players of Kenya also made ODI debut (It was Kenya's maiden ODI match).

5. B. England

In its second league match in 2011 World Cup, India faced England at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, on a batting paradise. Having scored 370 in their previous game batting first, India elected to bat after winning the toss against England. Riding on a century from Sachin Tendulkar (120 from 115 balls) and half centuries from Gautam Gambhir (51) and Yuvraj Singh (58), India were easily placed at 305 for 3 in 46th over only to be all out for 338 triggered by a five-wicket haul by Tim Bresnan, the English paceman.

In response England had a great start with skipper Andrew Strauss scoring a mammoth innings of 158 and Ian Bell contributing with a fine knock of 69. The 43rd over of the England innings bowled by Zaheer Khan became the turning point of the match as the left-arm seamer got rid of both Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell.

With 14 required for a historic win for England with 2 wickets in hand in the last over, Munaf Patel did a great job to give away only 13 runs. India managed with a memorable tie, only the fourth tied match in history of World Cup!