On and off the field, 2015 was a year of change in cricket
It was an action-packed year in the field of cricket.
The day/night Test at Adelaide Oval was a line-in-the-sand moment. It was the biggest thing to happen in cricket since the Packer revolution. The experiment has passed with flying colours and moving forward, this should become the norm rather than an exception. At least one Test match in every series should be played under lights, especially in places where the longer format doesn’t sell. India will play 12 home Tests next year against high-profile opponents; New Zealand, Australia and England. How about playing three of them with the pink ball?
This was the year of the 50-overs World Cup, which co-hosts Australia deservedly won. This was the year of Kevin Pietersen getting a second snub by the England and Wales Cricket Board. This was the year of Mohammad Amir and the reintegration controversy as the Pakistan quickie once again became eligible to play for his country after serving a five-year ban. This was the year of Bangladesh’s rise as a force in limited-overs cricket and West Indies’ further decline. This was the year when Brendon McCullum announced his impending retirement from all forms of cricket.
This year-ender piece, however, intends to focus on India.
On the field, it has been a mixed bag for Indian cricket. It has had the highs of winning eight matches on the bounce in the World Cup, beating Sri Lanka in a Test series in their lair after 22 years and rolling over World No.1 South Africa in the Test matches at home – forget the square turners!
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Circa 2015 also saw India lose an ODI series against Bangladesh and get thumped in the T20s and ODIs on the home patch by the Saffers. The new year begins with five 50-overs matches and three T20 internationals in Australia. The World T20 will follow. Given India’s record in marquee events, the hosts will be strong favourites.
R Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane have been the two outstanding performers for India this year. The Tamil Nadu offie picked up 62 wickets at 17.20 in nine Tests. India won five of those matches. In the shorter format also, the 29-year-old accounted for 21 scalps in 13 ODIs. His return to form is one of the biggest positives for Indian cricket.
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Rahane, after being harshly treated by MS Dhoni in Bangladesh, established himself as someone who is indispensable. It was his 126 in the second innings at P Sara Oval in Colombo that set up the team’s comeback win. He rounded off the year with centuries in each innings at new Delhi’s Kotla. He is only the fifth Indian to achieve the feat in Tests. In between, the Mumbai batsman had hammered a 58-ball 87, albeit in a losing cause, in the final one-dayer against South Africa at Wankhede to prove the sceptics wrong.
This year saw Virat Kohli assume full-time charge of the Test team and win back-to-back series. After a prolonged period of reactivity, his aggressive approach has come like a breath of fresh air.
Move on to the administrative side of the affairs and the year witnessed sweeping changes, if not an upheaval. It started with the Supreme Court striking down the amendment to the BCCI constitution’s clause 6.2.4 that allowed board functionaries to have a commercial interest in the IPL and the Champions League T20. The landmark judgment made N Srinivasan ineligible to contest the BCCI presidential election. Jagmohan Dalmiya replaced him as a consensus candidate but only seven months into his second term in office the great administrator passed away.
Sourav Ganguly became the Cricket Association of Bengal president, while Shashank Manohar made a surprise return to take charge of the Indian cricket board. IPL 2016 was the item No. 1 on his agenda after the court-appointed Lodha panel banned Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals because their official and co-owner, Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra, respectively, were found to be involved in betting.
The BCCI had to keep its money-spinning T20 league an eight-team event, but the office bearers were somewhat reluctant to get new franchises for only two years. Cricket at times, however, defies logic in this country and the response was very good. Eventually, the Sanjiv Goenka-owned New Rising and mobile phone manufacturer Intex bagged the ownership rights of Pune and Rajkot via reverse bidding. It prompted some high-profile transfers through player draft: M S Dhoni, Rahane, Ashwin, Steve Smith, Faf du Plessis (Pune) and Suresh Raina, McCullum, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner and Dwayne Bravo (Rajkot) – all will have new teams in the next edition of the tournament.
Manohar’s BCCI has addressed the conflict of interest issue by announcing strict dos and don’ts for all those directly involved with Indian cricket. Justice AP Shah has been appointed as an independent ombudsman. Is the cricket board under the present dispensation acting revengefully against Srinivasan? Removing the Tamil Nadu strongman from the ICC chairmanship and not awarding Chepauk a single fixture in the upcoming World T20 drop a hint at settling some old scores.
Finally Ankit Keshri. The former Bengal U-19 captain died in April, three days after an on-field collision with his East Bengal team-mate Saurav Mondal during a CAB Knockout fixture against Bhowanipore Club at JU’s Salt Lake Campus ground. A blame game followed. Medical negligence had been alleged. The whole incident, however, was a painful reminder of putting in more quality time on player safety.
