The cricket that was played this year constantly oscillated between ecstasy and heartbreak. With teams experiencing both triumphs and defeats, prominent players going unsold at the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, and the shortest format of the game undergoing a revolution, this action-packed year of enthralling games comes to an end. But what made this year so fascinating?
Rise of the underdogs
Everybody roots for the underdogs, and when you are a team that has been steadily rising in the ranks, the appreciation only grows. Afghanistan at the Cricket World Cup 2023 showed the nations that they would soon be a force to reckon with as they finished sixth on the table, preceding defending champions England, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands.
Come 2024, their start to the year was a little rocky. They lost the first two series against India and Sri Lanka, both being dominant victories for the opposing teams. However, there was no looking back from there for Afghanistan as they registered notable performances, enjoying their best year in international cricket. They reached the semi-finals at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, losing only three times in the entire tournament.
Afghanistan players celebrate after defeating Australia by 21 runs in their men’s T20 World Cup cricket match at Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo)
They faced South Africa in an ODI series after the T20 World Cup (the match against New Zealand was called off) in Sharjah, which they won 2-1. They carried this momentum into the matches they would play later on and have so far won all the series they played, as they look to beat Zimbabwe in the ongoing Test to end the year on a high, remaining undefeated post-World Cup.
Sri Lanka under Jayasuriya
Having served and impressed as an interim coach since July, the Sri Lanka Cricket board appointed Sanath Jayasuriya as the full-time coach in October this year. Under Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka achieved feats they never thought possible in the near future. The former batsman’s approach of team spirit and fearless cricket saw the team beat India in an ODI series after 27 years at home and beat England in England in a Test match. They followed that victory with a series win against New Zealand, achieving a clean sweep of 2-0. Although they lost their series to South Africa, they now hold a chance to earn a spot in the World Test Championship final next year.
India end ICC Trophy drought
“Long off…Long off…LONG OFF!”, the words that still ring in the ears of every Indian Cricket fan as Suryakumar Yadav’s athleticism helped him gather the ball that was gliding over the boundary ropes. It was 13 years ago that a catch tilted the T20 World Cup Trophy India’s way, and the story repeated once again.
Skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid after the T20 World Cup win. (Instagram)
After clearing the group stage undefeated, India’s real challenge began in the super-eight as they faced the team that had broken over a billion hearts twice in 2023, Australia. While Travis Head was on course to secure a win for Australia yet again, it was Rohit Sharma’s innings of 94 that trumped it all. India faced England in the semi-finals, but the latter could not chase down the target of 171.
What seemed to have been a smooth tournament until the finals, going undefeated until the last game, held bad memories for the Men in Blue. Heinrich Klassen looked like a man on a mission to take India down, as South Africa crept closer and closer to their first ICC trophy. However, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah combined to give a death over performance for the ages, as Suryakumar Yadav not only secured the ball in his hands near the boundary in the last over but also an ICC Trophy in India’s hands, winning a major tournament for the first time since 2013.
India face home sweep
If India won their first ICC Trophy in 11 years, what was to follow the pure ecstasy was a nightmare in the form of New Zealand, who knocked down India’s doors. After dominating the Test series against Bangladesh, India would have hoped for a competitive series with New Zealand reaching India’s shores soon after. However, this was a challenge India seemed to have no answer for. After losing the second Test, India lost a Test series at home for the first time after Alastair Cook led England on tour to India in 2012.
The victorious New Zealand cricket team at the Wankhede Stadium. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
But that wasn’t the worst of it, as India later faced a clean sweep at home after 24 years, as New Zealand went on to win the series 3-0 in Mumbai. The last time India suffered a series sweep at home was in 2000 against South Africa, making this only the second time India would suffer a clean sweep at home.
Evolution of the shortest format
The biggest franchise tournament in the world, the Indian Premier League, proved to be a catalyst for a much more aggressive approach in T20 cricket. 200 in a T20 game was a score that was almost impossible to reach, let alone chase. This year, the IPL saw the 200 mark breached on a total of 41 occasions. Teams approached the games with the mindset to simply attack, as the season saw 1260 sixes dispatched from the middle.
One would expect this to be because of the impact player rule, but this belief would change as India’s tour to South Africa saw the visitors score more than 200 runs in three of the four matches, with Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma scoring two centuries apiece.
It was then in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy that the record was set. Baroda took things to a higher level, scoring the highest ever T20 score in men’s cricket and becoming the first team to breach the 300-run mark. One short of the 350 mark, Bhanu Pania’s unbeaten knock of 134 off 51 against Sikkim propelled Baroda to a score of 349 in 20 overs.
White Ferns make incredible turnaround
New Zealand had a streak of 10 straight T20I losses before wreaking havoc at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in October. Heading into the tournament, Sophie Devine led New Zealand to change their own fortunes with the help of Amelia Kerr’s performances throughout the series. The all-rounder finished the tournament with 135 runs to her name and picked up 15 wickets, with a match-winning performance in the Final, which included 43 (38) with the bat and 3/24 with the ball.
Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates were a part of all the editions of the T20 World Cup, nine to be exact. After becoming the permanent captain in 2020, Sophie Devine decided to step down as the T20I captain once the World Cup was over, and Amelia Kerr’s gift to the veteran was the T20 World Cup.
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