The monkey was finally off India’s back in a roller-coaster 2024 when the financial giants of international cricket ended a 13-year wait for a world title, lost a rare Test series at home, and dealt with a transition triggered by both expected and unexpected retirements by the game’s stalwarts. There was plenty of action over the last 12 months that kept the loyal Indian fan interested.
World Cup triumph; T20 farewell to Rohit and Kohli
The Indian cricket team and its unparalleled fan base were desperate for an ICC trophy after repeatedly faltering in the knock-out stages over the past decade, most recently in the ODI World Cup final at home last year.
The trophy finally came home after Rohit Sharma and Co. played a near-perfect tournament to become the T20 World Cup champions in the USA and the Caribbean.
India’s clarity of thought throughout the one-month long event was remarkable and with a little bit of luck on their side, especially in the final at Barbados, they were able to go the distance.
On undercooked pitches in New York, they were pace heavy before unleashing their trump card Kuldeep Yadav from the Super 8 stage of the tournament. India picked as many as four spinners in the squad but played three in Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep.
With Jadeja not getting to do much with both bat and ball, Axar came of age in the competition producing match-winning performances with both and ball. The pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh also played their part to perfection, collecting 15 and 17 wickets respectively.
In the batting department, Rohit led from the front with a fearless approach that demoralised opposition attacks. His approach was best summed up in the Super 8 game against Australia where he tore into the likes of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins to make all the difference in the game.
His opening partner Kohli was not able to make the contributions that were expected out of him but the superstar came up with an innings of immense substance when it mattered the most — his not-so-fluent 76 of 59 balls kept India in the final after a poor start.
The contributions from all-rounder Hardik Pandya, future captain Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant, playing his first international event following his comeback from a life-threatening car accident, were also noteworthy.
A better script could not have been written for the likes of Rohit and Kohli, who got to say goodbye to the T20 format with the coveted trophy in their hands. It was also a fitting farewell for head coach Rahul Dravid, whose tenure drew to a close.
Change of guard in coahing; Surya’s unexpected elevation
With Rohit calling it a day, it was expected that Hardik will lead the T20 side into the transition phase, having captained the side in the former’s absence.
However, Dravid’s successor Gautam Gambhir had a different line of thinking as he played a major hand in elevating India’s best T20 batter Suryakumar to the leadership position ahead of the series in Sri Lanka.
To be fair to Suryakumar, the team has ticked all the boxes since he took over, also witnessing the rise of Tilak Verma and the rebirth of the likes of Sanju Samson and Varun Chakaravarthy.
All three were simply sensational in India’s recent T20 series in South Africa. Alongside Samson, Abhishek Sharma has also shown the talent and resolve at the top of the order and could serve India for long.
India hit rock bottom against Kiwis
While India moved on from the mighty duo of Rohit and Kohli in the shortest format rather quickly, the same is unlikely in the Test team.
The chatter around the future of senior players in the Test team has gained momentum after India’s first whitewash at home in a three-match series and more recently, the sudden retirement of premier off-spinner R Ashwin.
India’s loss to New Zealand in their own backyard was easily one of the most embarrassing outcomes for the team in Test cricket over the past decade. Having slayed ‘Bazball’ earlier in the year against England, India blanked Bangladesh and were expected to hand out a similar treatment to the visiting Black Caps.
However, in a stunning turn of events, the spirited Kiwis out-batted and out-bowled Rohit and Co. to script their biggest series wins overseas.
The Indian batters’ weakness against the turning ball was exposed threadbare and the duo of Ashwin and Jadeja, who run through sides for fun at home, were bettered by Mitchell Santer and Ajaz Patel.
It was only after landing in Australia, Ashwin made up his mind on retirement but his underwhelming outing against New Zealand may have contributed to his big decision.
With Ashwin gone and Mohammed Shami not available, a Test transition is well underway Down Under. The outcome of the remaining two Tests will determine where the Indian batting stands.
Jay Shah becomes youngest ICC chairman
India is the engine of the global game and its influence on the sport increased further with the elevation of Jay Shah as ICC chairman, making him the fifth from the country at the helm of the governing body after Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sharad Pawar, N Srinivasan and Shashank Manohar.
Shah took over in early December and has already made his presence felt by ending the deadlock over the hosting of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan by ensuring consensus for a reciprocal hybrid model in which India will not be required to travel across the border for any ICC event till 2028.
Likewise, Pakistan too will get a neutral venue in case of an event in India. Going forward, Shah will need to make a conscious effort to align India’s interests with the game globally.
Under his tenure, the ICC needs to find a way to save Test cricket outside the the big three and use the T20 format to break new barriers like it did in the T20 World Cup last year.
The build-up to cricket returns at Summer Olympics in 2028 will also be at the top of his agenda.
IPL razzmatazz in Saudi Arabia
The IPL players’ auction in Jeddah witnessed record-shattering action with Rishabh Pant (₹27 crore) and Shreyas Iyer (₹26.75 crore) becoming the first set of players to invite bids over ₹25 crore.
Women’s cricket under-performs
Amid all the drama in men’s cricket, women’s cricket continued to be relatively stagnant in terms of performance with ODI and T20 debacles in Australia along with an early exit from the T20 World Cup being the talking points. However, the team did manage to log its first home series triumph at home in five years by beating the West Indies in a T20 showdown.
