NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Cricket’s financial engine India ended their title drought and also tightened their vice-like grip on the game’s governance but their dogged stance of not touring Pakistan has jeopardized next year’s Champions Trophy across the border.
India’s 11-years of hurt finally came to an end in June when the country that boasts the world’s richest T20 league won the men’s World Cup in this format under Rohit Sharma’s inspiring captaincy.
They were unbeaten in the group stage and unperturbed in the semi-finals, where they shattered England’s title defense with a comprehensive victory.
In the final against South Africa, Virat Kohli’s uncanny sense of occasion and the accuracy of their pacers secured India’s second T20 World Cup title.
Rohit and Kohli immediately quit T20 Internationals and Suryakumar Yadav inherited India captaincy in this format.
While India thus ended their barren run in global events, their 12-year streak of not losing a test series on home soil, however, snapped.
India also slipped behind reigning champions Australia in the race for next year’s World Test Championship (WTC) final after the shock 3-0 whitewash by New Zealand.
Their fans did not have to wallow in grief for long though.
Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah led a depleted side to a memorable victory against Australia in the series opener in Perth leading by example with the ball.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s ‘daddy hundred’ suggested he was ready to inherit the mantle of batting mainstay Kohli, who roared back into form with his 30th test century.
Away from the field, the powerful Indian cricket board (BCCI) cemented their control of the game.
SHAH IN CHARGE
Jay Shah, the game’s most influential administrator as the secretary of the world’s richest cricket board, took over as the chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
In this new role, Shah’s immediate task will be to find a solution to the stalemate created by India’s refusal to tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy next year.
The bitter Asian neighbors play each other only in global tournaments and the Pakistan Cricket Board grudgingly agreed to the BCCI demands to let India play their Asia Cup matches in Sri Lanka in 2023.
The PCB has dismissed the possibility of a similar ‘hybrid model’ for the Champions Trophy leaving the ICC in a bind.
The year also saw England’s demise as the game’s white-ball behemoth.
Captain Jos Buttler oversaw the crumbling of their second World Cup title defense in eight months when they came up short in the T20 showpiece against eventual champions India.
While it raised questions about Buttler’s captaincy, Matthew Mott stepped down as the white-ball coach and Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum was put in charge of the England squads in all three formats.
England’s ‘Bazball’ philosophy to test cricket too suffered a setback with a 2-1 series loss in Pakistan where their gung-ho batting did not work on spin-friendly tracks.
Bangladesh sprang a surprise by sweeping a test series in Pakistan and Afghanistan beat South Africa in an ODI series for the first time underlining their growth.
In the women’s game, New Zealand won the T20 World Cup beating South Africa in the final.
England pace great Jimmy Anderson, Australia opener David Warner and Shakib Al Hasan, easily the greatest cricketer produced by Bangladesh, quit international cricket ending illustrious careers.
