39 Years Later, India Meet England Again in a World Cup Semi-Final at Wankhede

India’s T20 World Cup semi-final against England at Wankhede on March 5 revives memories of the 1987 World Cup clash at the same venue, where England ended India’s title defence. This time, the defending champions hope to rewrite history.

India vs England Semi-Final at Wankhede 1987 (Image Source: Google)

India has set up a T20 World Cup semi-final showdown with England with a victory over West Indies. Do you know:

*This shall be the 3rd consecutive India vs England semi-final in the T20 World Cup.

*The last time India and England played a World Cup semi-final at Wankhede Stadium was in the Reliance World Cup in 1987. India was the defending champions and England beat the hosts. This time also India is the defending champion as well as hosts.

So the semi-final clash of 5th March 2026 at Wankhede between these two sides has brought back the memories of heartbreak of 1987, with the hope for a different outcome this time. Incidentally that semi-final was also played on the 5th day of the month (November).

Both the joint hosts of the 1987 Reliance World Cup, India and Pakistan were the respective toppers of Pool A and Pool B, and were seen to meet in the finals. Both were victims of overconfidence and Pakistan lost to Australia while India lost to England and neither India nor Pakistan made it to the November 8 final at the Eden Gardens.

Kapil Dev’s devils were not bothered even when England posted 254-6. Graham Gooch (115 off 136 with 11 fours) was the architect of the problems for India as he swept out India spinners, Maninder Singh and Ravi Shastri. Mike Gatting (56 off 62 with 5 fours) also joined him in the party and played his part. Both Gooch and Gatting nullified India's biggest strength at home, spin bowling, by relentlessly using the sweep shot.

While chasing India, although lost some quick wickets, but still had the control over the proceedings as the asking rate had come down to nearly five runs per over. India needed 87 runs in 17 overs with six wickets in hand and Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin (64 off 74 with 7 fours) at the crease. However, in a rush of blood, Kapil (30 off 22) went for a six off Hemmings and as the ball fell short of the ropes by a couple of yards, he was caught by Gatting.

India ultimately lost by 35 runs. In general, the sweep shot and that one stroke of Kapil was held responsible for the debacle at the Wankhede. The loss was also Sunil Gavaskar's last match. The defeat left the dressing room in a disappointed mood and this loss to England at the Wankhede Stadium started a jinx for India in the semi-final stage of big tournaments, especially at the Wankhede. Two years later, India lost to the West Indies in the Nehru Cup and 2016 World T20 here in the semi-finals. India lost three more times in the ODI World Cup semi-final: 1996, 2015 and 2019.

In addition, one more factor equally contributed to India’s loss. Many believe that India had lost the first round even before the commencement of that semi-final.

Dilip Vengsarkar, one of the top ranked batters and also the vice-captain of the side, suffered food poisoning before the match, which ruled him out, on the morning of the important match.

Recalls Vengsarkar, ‘At 2.30 am, I suffered a bad bout of food poisoning after I ate pork ribs for dinner. I was vomiting badly and felt really sick. Naturally, I was ruled out, which was heart-breaking, since I was in great form and we were doing very well as a team.’ Chandrakant Pandit, who was no match to him, took his place.

This Vengsarkar food poisoning incident, just before a crucial match, is one of the most controversial ‘fitness issue’ in Indian cricket. What had happened?

On the eve of that semi-final, Dilip and his wife Manali went to Golden Dragon at Taj for dinner. They had 'Spare Ribs' which probably caused the food poisoning. He was vomiting continuously while the condition of his wife was so bad that she was admitted to a hospital.

The media painted this incident in different colours. Vengsarkar has always maintained it was ribs which caused the trouble while a section of the curious Mumbai media claimed it was bangda (mackerel). Even this claim is not the end of the story.

When Dilip pronounced himself unfit for that semi-final, it was like a beamer thrown at the skipper Kapil Dev. He even made a personal approach to Dilip to play but Dilip was adamant that he had been struck down by `flu and felt too weak, in the legs, to stand up to the doughty demands of a World Cup semi-final.’ Team was not prepared for losing an inform (his scores in the 1987 World Cup were 29 v s Australia, 0 vs New Zealand, 46* vs Zimbabwe, 63 vs Australia and 33* vs Zimbabwe) and one of the top five batsmen in the world.

Dilip has been questioned many times as to why he gave such a crucial World Cup match a miss? The team wanted him, even if half fit. It was reported in a section of the press that ‘If you have eyebrows, prepare to raise them now.’ It was speculated that `The Colonel' paid back to unprepared Kapil and ‘stumped’ him. Dilip had not forgotten that Kapil had dropped him from the Indian playing XI for the June 22, 1983 semi-final vs England at Old Trafford and Dilip still regrets not being a part of the playing XI in both the knockout matches in the historic World Cup 1983 win.