ON INDIAN FRONT

Sloppy start

Winning the first Test with ease, Team India failed to defend tricky totals of 240 and 212 against one of the weakest-ever South African sides to lose the series 2-1. That too, with their famed pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah. Worse, the then captain Virat Kohli and some of his teammates turned towards the stump camera and started cursing broadcasters SuperSport after a DRS referral for an LBW shout didn’t go their way. Kohli quit Test captaincy later, affecting India’s performance in the ODI leg too. They lost that series 0-3.

Like pre-Covid times

Fingers were crossed for an IPL minus any hiccup, especially after Covid-19 interruptions in 2021. The league games were held in Mumbai, Pune and Navi Mumbai with partial crowds. But the playoffs and the decider, at Eden Gardens and the Motera in Ahmedabad, went on with a packed house reminiscent of the pre-Covid era. Two new teams — Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants — also debuted, with the former going on to win the trophy.

Pandya revival

A fair share of attention was on Hardik Pandya 2.0 following his appointment as captain of Gujarat Titans. With each game, Pandya kept getting better, impressing with both bat and ball. Eventually, he turned out to be his team’s highest run-getter (487) and with the ball took three wickets in the all-important final, where the Titans beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets to emerge champions. Pandya’s IPL showing proved to be a catalyst to his comeback in international cricket, where he re-established himself as a finisher and a much sharper seamer.

Party in England

The loss to England in the rescheduled Birmingham Test was a massive disappointment, but India didn’t let that affect their morale in the white-ball leg of the tour. All-round performances saw India triumph in both the T20Is and ODIs by identical 2-1 margins. Beating England in England in limited-overs since mid-2015 is no mean feat, so that certainly was an achievement.

SKY rise

Not that there were any doubts about Suryakumar Yadav’s abilities, but this year witnessed “SKY”, as he is fondly called, at his devastating best with his 360-degree strokeplay trigerring fear in opposition ranks. Both his T20I hundreds came in away conditions — against England (in Nottingham) and New Zealand (in Mount Maunganui) — and in difficult situations.

Same old injury

A stiff back kept Bumrah out since the deciding ODI against England on July 17, which also forced him to miss the Asia Cup. The star pacer did return for a couple of home T20Is against Australia, only to be sidelined again for a longer period due to a lower-back injury. Questions were raised if his comeback was hurried owing to the T20 World Cup, while a finger or two has also been pointed at the role of the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, where he underwent injury management.

Drought broken

It has been three years since Virat Kohli last scored a Test hundred. But he has been able to break his overall century drought in international cricket, reaching the landmark against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. And then he got one in the ODI format against Bangladesh. Critics, however, will argue that both those hundreds came in inconsequential matches.

Special knock

While on Kohli, one has to mention his extraordinary innings against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. In pursuit of 160, India needed 28 off just eight balls. A set Kohli was facing Haris Rauf. The fourth ball of the penultimate over was a length delivery, and Kohli slammed that straight over the top for a maximum. The next ball, a tad short, was casually helped over fine leg fetching him another six. Off the last three balls, India needed 13. Kohli then hammered the fourth ball by Mohammad Nawaz for another six over square leg while it was also a no-ball. India reached home off the last ball of the game. But without those two sixes from Kohli (82 not out off 53 balls), victory over Pakistan wouldn’t have been possible.

Trophy-less again

This year too, India won several white-ball bilateral series. But when it came to ICC/multi-team events, they again finished trophy-less. If poor death bowling and inconsistency of the top order were the reasons behind their failure to go past the Super 4 stage of the Asia Cup, wrong team selection denied them the chance to play in the final of the T20 World Cup. Will we see a change this year?

Young & bold

In his only opportunity in the ODI series versus Bangladesh this month, Ishan Kishan clobbered his way to a blinder of a knock (210) in Chittagong. What stood out was his fearlessness, exuberance and nonchalance with which he unleashed strokes.

Costliest duo
Sam Curran was expected to fetch a high price at the IPL auction in Kochi. The England all-rounder went on to be the IPL’s most expensive buy ever, going to Punjab Kings at Rs 18.5 crore. Australia’s Cameron Green was the second highest (Rs 17.5 crore by Mumbai Indians).

Ben Stokes. File photo

ON WORLD PITCH

Back on Pak soil

Test cricket returned to Pakistan when Australia toured the country in March for a three-match series, alongside as many ODIs and a one-off T20I. The Test series was competitive but flat and docile pitches diluted the contest somewhat.

Bazball impact

The year also belonged to Bazball — England’s new aggressive approach to Test match batting under coach Brendon McCullum. It was mocked after England conceded a 132-run first-innings lead to India in the rescheduled fifth Test in Birmingham in July. But twin tons from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, who hit a hundred in the first innings too, helped the Ben Stokes-led side chase down a record 378 in just 76.4 overs. So far, Bazball has worked wonderfully well with England overcoming New Zealand, India and Pakistan.

Of goodbyes

He was short of runs since 2021 and late in June, Eoin Morgan, who revolutionised England’s approach to whiteball cricket and the only England captain to lead the side to an ODI World Cup crown in 2019, announced his international retirement. He passed the baton over to Jos Buttler. In April, West Indies’ T20 legend Kieron Pollard quit too.

Lankan stunner

Almost everyone expected an India-Pakistan final in the Asia Cup. But Sri Lanka played spoilsport, beating India in the Super 4 stage. Then in the final, from what appeared to be a hopeless situation, they recovered to 170/6 and then limited Pakistan to 147 to win the competition for the sixth time.

Master chokers

South Africa’s tendency to choke in World Cup knockout rounds isn’t anything new. In the 2021 T20 World Cup, they were knocked out after the group phase by virtue of net run rate. But this year, their fate was in their own hands as all they needed was a win over The Netherlands, an Associate side. They lost. The Proteas have taken the ‘chokers’ tag to another level.

English delicacy

Barring the T20I and ODI series loss to India at home, it has been a fantastic year for English cricket as the team registered a double with Jos Buttler’s men lifting the T20 World Cup trophy three years after the Morgan-led side emerged winners in the 50-over format. The talismanic Stokes overcame a challenging situation in the final against Pakistan, scoring an unbeaten 52 in England’s five-wicket win.

Poor Gabba

A lot of eyebrows were raised when 30 wickets fell inside two days in the India-England pink-ball Test at the Motera in Ahmedabad in February 2021. After 22 months, as many as 34 wickets fell inside two days in the first Australia-South Africa Test at the Gabba, which is known to produce pace-friendly yet quality Test pitches. Such was the pitch that Australia, with only 34 to win, lost four wickets to get those few runs. Very rightly, the ICC then rated that green top at Gabba “below average”. That Motera turner had got an “average” rating.

Dates to note in 2023

⚫ 1st T20I vs SL (Jan. 3, Mumbai)

⚫ 2nd T20I vs SL (Jan. 5, Pune)

⚫ 3rd T20I vs SL (Jan. 7, Rajkot)

⚫ 1st ODI vs SL (Jan. 10, Guwahati)

⚫ 2nd ODI vs SL (Jan. 12, Calcutta)

⚫ 3rd ODI vs SL (Jan. 15, Thiruvananthapuram)

⚫1st ODI vs NZ (Jan. 18, Hyderabad)

⚫ 2nd ODI vs NZ (Jan. 21, Raipur)

⚫ 3rd ODI vs NZ (Jan. 24, Indore)

⚫ 1st T20I vs NZ (Jan. 27, Ranchi)

⚫ 2nd T20I vs NZ (Jan. 29, Lucknow)

⚫ 3rd T20I vs NZ (Feb. 1, Ahmedabad)

⚫ 1st Test vs Aus (Feb. 9-13, Nagpur)

⚫ 2nd Test vs Aus (Feb. 17-21, New Delhi)

⚫ 3rd Test vs Aus (March 1-5, Dharamsala)

⚫ 4th Test vs Aus (March 9-13, Ahmedabad)

⚫ 1st ODI vs Aus (March 17, Mumbai)

⚫ 2nd ODI vs Aus (March 19, Visakhapatnam)

⚫ 3rd ODI vs Aus (March 22, Chennai)

⚫ World Test Championship final is likely from the second week of June.

⚫ ODI World Cup in India will be held in October/ November 2023.

Source: ICC website

Note: IPL 2023 is likely to begin from the last week of March and continue till May end.