Cricket History and Tournaments

India holds the record for the biggest victory by runs in Cricket World Cup history - they defeated Sri Lanka by 317 runs in the 2023 World Cup at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. This broke the previous record of 257 runs. Australia and Sri Lanka have had large victories but not the biggest. West Indies also had notable wins but not the record margin.

Sachin Tendulkar scored his career-best 241 not out in Test cricket against Australia at Sydney in 2004. This was a legendary innings against one of the strongest bowling attacks of that era. Australia, not Italy or any other country mentioned, was the opponent in this historic match.

Sachin Tendulkar scored 152 runs against Namibia in the 2003 World Cup (the question incorrectly states 2004) at Pietermaritzburg. This was one of his highest World Cup scores and came during India's successful run to the final that year.

India's lowest World Cup total is 81 all out against Australia in the 2023 World Cup final at Chennai. Previous record low was 83 against Sri Lanka in 2022. Australia's bowling attack completely dismantled India's batting lineup.

World Cup matches were reduced from 60 overs to 50 overs starting from the 1987 World Cup, which was co-hosted by India and Pakistan. This change was made to accommodate daylight finish in the subcontinent.

India won their first-ever World Cup match in 1975 against East Africa (now Kenya) by 60 runs. This was India's inaugural victory in World Cup cricket history.

In the 1996 Wills World Cup (co-hosted by India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka), India was eliminated in the Semi-finals by Sri Lanka. This was a controversial match at Eden Gardens, Kolkata where crowd disturbances led to the match being awarded to Sri Lanka.

Pakistan has never beaten India in a World Cup match across all ODI and T20 World Cup encounters. India has maintained a perfect winning record against Pakistan in World Cup matches (1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2011, 2015 ODIs; 2021 T20). This statistic is often cited as one of cricket's most remarkable streaks.

The 2011 ICC World Cup format was similar to the 1996 format in featuring 14 teams divided into two groups of seven, with top four from each group qualifying for quarter-finals. Both formats used the group stage followed by knockout quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final structure. This differed from the 2007 and 1999 formats which used different super stage systems.

India faced Kenya in the 2003 World Cup semi-final at Johannesburg. Kenya, coached by Sandeep Patil, had a remarkable tournament run defeating Test teams including Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. India won convincingly by 91 runs (Sachin Tendulkar scored 111). Kenya remains the only non-Test playing nation to reach a World Cup semi-final.

Yuvraj Singh scored back-to-back centuries against England in 2007 during the ODI series - 138 at Bristol and 134* at The Oval. This was one of his most memorable performances.

Australia suffered their last World Cup defeat in 1999 (to Pakistan in the group stage) before beginning their record-breaking 34-match winning streak that continued through 2007. They didn't lose a single WC match from 1999 to 2007, winning three consecutive tournaments.