Indian eyes third World Cup title in Australian backyard

Defending champions India will be eyeing their third World Cup Down Under. With a young-team at his disposal, Mahendra Singh Dhoni could make history and could become the third captain to win back-to-back world championships.

Australia will look to become just the second team to win a World Cup final on their own soil when a tournament rich in sub-plots featuring serial under-achievers South Africa and Afghanistan's fairytale debut starts. Champions in 1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007, Australia are amongst the favourites to lift the trophy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 29 at the end of an exhausting six-week event.

The 14-nation competition gets under way on February 14 and is being played at seven venues in Australia and seven in New Zealand. The top four in each group qualify for the quarter-finals. Now in its 40th year, the World Cup has only once been won by a team playing in front of a home crowd, with India shrugging off the crushing pressure of mass expectation in 2011.

Here's a trip down memory lane...

1975 World Cup in England

Led by the legendary Clive Lloyd, West Indies won the first world championship. In the final played at the Lord's, West Indies defeated Australia by 17 runs. Eight teams - including six Test-playing nations, Sri Lanka and East Africa - took part in the inaugural edition for the Prudential Cup. The tournament was played in the traditional format - in whites and in daylight. Matches were 60-over affairs. Not many teams were used to the ODI format. Opener Sunil Gavaskar batted through 60 overs to score 36 not out as India chased England's 334 for four wickets.

1979 World Cup in England

Lloyd once again led the mighty West Indians. The Caribbeans retained their title after defeating England by 92 runs in the final. Joel Garner took a fifer in the final as England collapsed in dramatic fashion after a sedate start. Non-Test playing nations - Sri Lanka and Canada -- took part in the tournament which formally became a quadrennial event. Sri Lanka had upset India by 47 runs at Manchester.

1983 World Cup in England

The trophy was still called the Prudential Cup and India surprised the world by shocking the mighty West Indies in a dramatic final at the Lord's. Led by Kapil Dev, India got past England in the semifinals while West Indies beat Pakistan. In the eight-team tournament, India would have been stunned by Zimbabwe, but for Kapil Dev's heroic batting. The Haryana Hurricane rescued India from a precarious 17 for five by smashing an unbeaten 175 with 16 fours and six sixes at Tunbridge Wells. In this tournament teams faced each other twice, before moving into the knock-outs. India, an outsider quoted at 66-1 to win by bookmakers before the competition began, were crowned champions after upsetting the West Indies by 43 runs in the final. India's heroes were their slow medium pacers - Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal. The duo took three wickets each as West Indies were all out for 140 after being 50 for 1 at one stage. India had scored a modest 183.

1987 World Cup in India and Pakistan

For the first time, the World Cup was held outside England. Zimbabwe were among the minnows as eight teams lined up for the Reliance Cup played in India and Pakistan. Neutral umpires were introduced for the first time and like 1983, the matches were 50-over affairs. Australia, led by Allan Border, won the championship at Eden Gardens by defeating England by 7 runs in the final, the closest margin in World Cup final history. India and Pakistan made the semifinals but lost to England and Australia, respectively. West Indies failed to reach the last four for the first time.

1992 World Cup in Australia

South Africa, following the end of apartheid, participated for the first time. The tournament saw several innovations like coloured clothing with names on the back of shirts, white balls from both ends and floodlights for most games. South Africa made the semifinals but a weird equation - the Springboks needed 21 off one ball to win - ran them out as England made the final. Pakistan got the better of New Zealand in the other semifinal with Inzamam-ul-Haq scoring a match-winning 60 off 37 balls. Pakistan defeated England by 22 runs as skipper Imran Khan scored a captain-like 72 to help his team score 249 for 6 at Melbourne Cricket Ground. The pace-spin combination of Wasim Akram (3/49) and Mushtaq Ahmed (3/41) stopped England short as Neil Fairbrother's 62 went in vain.

1996 World Cup in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

The World Cup returned to the Indian sub-continent for the second time. Sri Lanka hosted a few ground matches but the island nation proved their credentials as a limited overs side when they defeated Australia by seven wickets in the final at Lahore's Gadaffi Stadium. Led by the talismanic Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka defeated India in the semifinals at Eden Gardens but that match will be remembered for massive crowd unrest. India's poor batting drove the fans wild and the Lankans were handed the match after the match didn't resume with India at 120 for 8, chasing 252. Australia beat West Indies in the other semifinal. The Caribbeans lost eight wickets in 50 balls, never to recover. Aravinda de Silva was Sri Lanka's man of the final with a brilliant all-round show that left the Australians foxed. Dubbed 'Mad Max', De Silva took two catches, three wickets and then slammed a classy 107 to ensure victory.

1999 World Cup in England

Australia won, perhaps, the most one-sided final contest to clinch their second World Cup title at the iconic Lord's stadium in England. The excitement in the tied semi-final almost made up for the damp squib that followed. In a horror mix-up, South Africa's Lance Klusner and Allan Donald ended up on the same side of the wicket with just one run to win. The match ended in a tie and Australia advanced on the virtue of finishing higher in the group stages. The tournament also saw minnows Bangladesh beat Pakistan but the Wasim Akram-led side made their way to the final after Saeed Anwar orchestrated his team's win over New Zealand in the semis. India saw their share of ups and downs. Sachin Tendulkar scored a surreal ton, returning to England just days after his father demise. Rahul Dravid finished as the tournament's leading run-scorer but the team failed to make it to the semis after enduring a nail-biting loss to Zimbabwe.

2003 World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya

It was the first time that the World Cup entered the African Continent as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya jointly-hosted the tournament. Ricky Ponting's Australia stamped their authority on world cricket, enjoying an unbeaten tournament to lift their third World Cup title. At the other end, they faced Sourav Ganguly's rejuvenated India who surpassed expectations to storm into the final. Australia, however, amassed 359. Ricky Ponting starred with 140 while Damien Martyn chipped in with 88. Glenn McGrath got rid of Tendulkar, the top-scorer of the tournament (673 runs)in the first over and India lost by 125 runs.

There was something for the minnows in this tournament too. Canada's John Davison smashed the fastest hundred of that time (Off 67 balls) and finished on 111 but his side lost to the West Indies. The stars however, were Brett Lee and McGrath, who finished with 22 and 21 wickets respectively.

2007 World Cup in the West Indies

The Caribbean played hosts to the World Cup in 2007 which saw Australia completing a hat-trick of wins. The number of participants were increased to 16 and were split into four groups of four teams each. The top two teams of each group then formed the Super Eights line-up, from which four teams were filtered to play the semi-finals. Ireland and Bermuda made their World Cup debuts. The tragic death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, just hours after the team's shocking loss to Ireland and their eventual exit rocked the tournament. The show went on and Australia crushed South Africa who choked after a fine run of form through the tournament. They managed just 149 and made their way back home. The Kiwis too earned the tag of perennial semi-finalists as they were beaten by Sri Lanka. In the final, Adam Gilchrist's 149 enabled Australia to beat Sri Lanka by 53 runs on D/L method in a rain-hit game.

2011 World Cup in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

After a gap of 15 years, the World Cup, 10th edition, returned to the sub-continent as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh played hosts. India ended a 28-year-long wait to get their hands on the coveted trophy after beating Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede stadium. Fourteen teams were split into two groups of seven each with top four from both progressing to the quarters. This was the first edition of the tournament that employed the Decision Review System and had Super Over for deciding tied-matches in the knockout stage. Ireland handed a massive upset to neighbours Ireland as Kevin O'Brien led an unlikely chase with the fastest World Cup hundred. Sri Lanka once again came up against the Kiwis and handed them yet another semifinal exit. India played one of the tournament favourites Australia and fifties from Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh put them in the final. Mahela Jayawardene's splendid knock of 103 was in vain as Gautam Gambhir's gritty 97 set up India's chase. Dhoni, promoting himself ahead of man-of-the-tournament Yuvraj Singh played a captain's knock and sealed it with a six.