Between the 22 yards: Here we take a look at how the past 12 months unfolded for Indian and world cricket

Express News Service

Test team passes the test

A Test series win in Australia against all odds. For a team that has won two 50-over World Cups and one T20 World Cup, the celebration and the euphoria of what they achieved Down Under will remain unparalleled and hard to repeat by any side. For ages Australia has been billed up as this stern test for Asian teams where a full-strength hosts will be hard to dislodge. Yet, without Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, a team which nobody gave a chance of even competing, breached the fortress called the Gabba in the fourth and final Test to become the first team from Asia to win back-to-back series in Australia. In many ways that was a testament to India’s bench strength where the newcomers seamlessly took to Test cricket like fish to water. Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, T Natarajan made debuts on the tour and each one made a telling contribution.

Though they lost to New Zealand in the World Test Championship final, their performance in England where they took a 2-1 lead with one match postponed to 2022 because of Covid-related issues saw the team play arguably their best cricket under Ravi Shastri’s tenure. Wins at Lord’s and the Oval were icing on the cake for Kohli and Co. The pace attack, which has become the hallmark of this Indian team, made it possible. Needless to say, they continued their domination at home, beating England and New Zealand as they ended the year on a high.

Limited-overs team needs to reboot

The T20 World Cup laid bare some hard truths. With the BCCI unable to host the T20 World Cup at home because of the pandemic, they moved it to the UAE. With the second part of the IPL too held in the Gulf country just before the marquee event, India had the best of preparations. But they never really looked to go all the way. From the moment they lost to Pakistan, it was evident that fatigue factor was going to be their biggest undoing. Add the difficulties of living in a bubble life for a long time, it was beginning to take a toll on the performances of the team. With new coach Rahul Dravid in, the onus is on India to press a reboot button in limited-overs and put together a team that will stand a good chance of winning 20-over and 50-over World Cups in the next couple of years. That the BCCI chose Rohit Sharma to lead in the limited-overs side was the first sign of change.

Big Three make merry

It was a year where the effects of the pandemic were still being felt. While India continued to be a sought after team to play given the commercial elements in play, several series had to be cancelled. For instance, Australia refused to travel to South Africa citing Covid concerns, New Zealand cancelled a limited-overs series in Pakistan after a security threat. After Afghanistan was taken over by the Taliban, Cricket Australia called off a Test Down Under citing social issues. Richer boards placed their interest above everything else with England also postponing their tour to Pakistan citing ‘mental and physical well-being of players’.

Playstore

It was yet another year where cricket-viewing moved more and more towards mobile streaming. Apart from Hotstar and Sony Liv, apps like Fancode and Voot showed consumers are interested in cricket even for matches not involving India. Cricket as a product continued to get numbers. The low subscription charges which even allowed pay-per-match made it all the more consumable. With Amazon also entering the market and IPL, Indian cricket and ICC broadcast deal up for renewal in 2022, expect these apps to play a big role as far as watching cricket goes.