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2021: A year where cricket gave moments to cherish for a lifetime

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3 years ago

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Life, very much like cricket, gives human beings moments which they cherish and remember for a lifetime. After 2020 was heavily dominated by COVID-19 and bio-bubble with some bits of cricketing action, 2021 was a better upgrade in terms of the on-field play, giving followers of the game many edge-of-the-seat thrilling moments.

India began 2021 in a very spectacular fashion, drawing the Sydney Test, thanks to a resilient 256-ball 62-run partnership between Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin while battling a torn hamstring and sore back respectively. On day five, when Ashwin and Vihari hanged around to save India, Australia captain Tim Paine tried to sledge Ashwin with ‘Can’t wait to get you to the Gabba’ dialogue.

In the series decider at Brisbane, Paine’s dialogue backfired gorgeously as Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant helped India win the match and win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1. The Indian team, missing many of its first-choice players, breached the Gabba fortress, making it Australia’s first loss at the venue since 1988.

After this, India unearthed a gem in Axar Patel, who played a big role in the hosts winning the four-match series 3-1 against England. While India did well in the rest of the year in terms of bilateral series, the same success wasn’t seen in ICC events.

In the inaugural World Test Championship final in Southampton, India was troubled by old nemesis Kyle Jamieson in both innings with Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson applying finishing touches to the chase.

For New Zealand, apart from winning the WTC, they maintained a 100 per cent record in ODIs and reached the final of Men’s T20 World Cup. Their left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel achieved a rare feat, of taking all 10 wickets in an innings of Test cricket against India at Mumbai, his place of birth. Players like Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell turned out to play vital roles for the Blackcaps.

Australia, who began the year on a shaky note, ended the year strongly with its first Men’s T20 World Cup and retained the Ashes in a thumping fashion at home. Mitchell Marsh and David Warner scripted stunning stories of doing well when it mattered the most after being written off by numerous people. England oscillated between great and woeful in going from white-ball cricket to red-ball cricket though Joe Root became a Test run machine.

Pakistan had a good time in T20Is in 2021, especially when the Men’s T20 World Cup was on. Beating India by 10 wickets was a great highlight but its dominating run was brought to a halt by Australia in the semifinals. Sri Lanka’s young guns showed promise for the future but what happens next is anyone’s guess.

West Indies began the year with a Test series win, thanks to Kyle Mayers and Nkumrah Bonner’s gigantic partnership in Bangladesh but the defending champions in Men’s T20 World Cup came a cropper.

The associate nations, hit hard by lack of game time due to COVID-19, did fairly well. Oman showed promise, Papua New Guinea could have shown more if they had game time under their belt. Namibia and Scotland were brighter going to Super 12 stage of Men’s T20 World Cup. Ireland and Netherlands flattered to deceive though the former won an ODI against South Africa.

Women’s cricket had the best and rough times in 2021. The introduction of women’s Hundred did a lot of good for the game apart from the Women’s Big Bash League reaching greater heights in terms of viewership in the final. Both competitions had Indian cricketers showing their skills but the South Africans played a decisive hand in the knockouts.

Australia’s 26-match winning streak in ODIs was snapped by India acing their most successful chase in the format, just 48 hours after losing a thrilling match. India, after no-show for almost 14 months, played against South Africa, Australia and England, including a red-ball and pink-ball Test each. The year for women’s cricket ended with a Thailand heart-break in the Women’s Cricket World Cup qualifiers despite being in pole position to enter the ICC Championships’ table.

2022 holds a chance for cricket enthusiasts to have a bag full of memories despite the Omicron variant of COVID-19 threatening to shut the world, again. The Men’s U19 World Cup in the West Indies will unearth more stars of the future. A few weeks later, the Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand will see the best of women cricketers set the world on fire. Then in October and November, Australia will begin its title defence of Men’s T20 World Cup at home.

For India, winning a Test series against South Africa will be high on the 2022 wish list apart from shaping up for the T20 World Cup later in the year. New Zealand will be looking to give Ross Taylor a grand and happy farewell at home. Australia has got two matches left to complete a 5-0 Ashes thrashing of a hapless England, whose white-ball captain Eoin Morgan will be back to drawing strategies for winning the T20 World Cup.

Expect 2022 to be a bigger bag full of unforgettable moments after 2021 gave a lot.

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International

CT 2025: India to take on Pakistan on Feb 23, likely to play in Colombo or Dubai: Sources

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4 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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New Delhi, Dec 19: The much-awaited clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025 will be played on February 23 with Colombo and Dubai front-runners to play host for India’s matches in the tournament being played in hybrid format. The development comes after the ICC Board said that “India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue.”

“India will take on Pakistan at a neutral venue on February 23, 2025. ICC looking at Colombo and Dubai to host their matches.”

The Champions Trophy is scheduled to be played in February and March 2025. Meanwhile, ICC said the schedule for the marquee tournament will be confirmed in the coming days.

Pakistan are the defending champions of the tournament, having defeated India by 180 runs in the final at The Oval in 2017. Both teams last played against each other in the T20 World Cup in New York earlier this year which India won by six runs and went on to claim their second silverware in the format.

Due to the strained political relations between the two neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan only play each other in international events including World Cups and Asia Cup. The last bilateral series between India and Pakistan was held in 2012-13 when the latter toured India for the five-match white-ball series.

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International

It’s OFFICIAL! All India vs Pakistan Matches At ICC Events To Be Played At Neutral Venue Till 2027

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4 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed on Thursday, 19 December. The schedule for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is set to be confirmed soon, with Pakistan aiming to defend the title they won in 2017.

The eight-team event will feature Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, and South Africa, alongside hosts Pakistan.

This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan), set to be played in February and March 2025, as well as the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 (hosted by India) and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 (hosted by India and Sri Lanka).

It was also announced that the PCB has been awarded hosting rights of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2028, where neutral venue arrangements will also apply. Cricket Australia is set to host one of the senior ICC women’s events during the period 2029 to 2031.

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‘Our dream is getting fulfilled’: Coach Sumit Bhatia elated to see Kho Kho going global

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7 days ago

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December 16, 2024

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New Delhi, Dec 16: Coach Sumit Bhatia is all pumped up for the first edition of the Kho Kho World Cup scheduled to take place from January 13-19, 2025. Bhatia, who holds a distinct record of being the only head coach to have won the Asian Championship twice, believes that this historical step is an indication of the realisation of the dream to take the sport to the international level and help it gain global recognition.

Having been honoured with the best coach award by the Delhi government, Bhatia has been a part of various Indian teams’ success, including the 2016 and 2023 Asian Kho Kho Championship victories, and has trained players like Nasreen Shaikh and Sarika Sudhakar Kale. Both of them have been Arjuna Awardees.

Nasreen, who is also a part of the World Cup camp, is the only player who has played in two Asian Championships and won the gold. The coach-student duo is now gearing up for the global event.

Sharing how the journey of Kho Kho World Cup’s inception, the coach said, “We organised an international camp here before COVID happened, in 2020. Coaches and players from 16 countries came here and we gave them training. Now they will be coming here for the World Cup but this campaign started in that camp”.

He further said, “Around 30-35 countries were willing to play the tournament but we picked the best 20 teams for both men and women. Some countries have single teams while some have double teams but a total of 24 countries will be participating in the tournament. It was our dream to take Kho Kho to the international level and now we can see that our dream is getting fulfilled.”

He also lauded the launch of the Ultimate Kho Kho League and shared how the franchise-based model has helped the players and coaches gain recognition, while also bringing forward grassroot talent.

“When the Ultimate Kho Kho league started, I also joined Telegu Yodhas as their head coach and we also played the final. Players have gotten exposure through the league and it’s not just financial. Earlier we used to hesitate while admitting being a Kho Kho coach but today our players introduce us as their coach,” said Bhatia.

He added, “The league got so much coverage that wherever we go, the players are approached for autographs. So the platform of the league started a new world for both coaches and players and now not just India but the entire world knows us. Earlier we used to tell people about our game but now they know what is Kho Kho and Ultimate Kho Kho league and are also waiting for the third season.”

Bhatia also discussed the impact of sports science on Kho Kho and lauded the newly introduced technology and said, “We have benefitted a lot from it. Sometimes we don’t understand why a player is not performing well. But with the introduction of sports science, we now know about the details of the problem.

“For example, a player might be facing issues with his left leg while sitting and so, it gives us an opportunity to work on that weakness… Sports science has helped us in identifying the accuracy and weakness of a player. So it’s very beneficial for us.”

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