BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor
Certain dates are marked by key events across different eras and formats in the history of cricket and 23rd December is one such date. On this day, international cricket witnessed major debuts, records were broken, historic performances took place and some great players made their career decisions. From ODIs and Test matches to women's cricket and the IPL, these events are associated with this date at every level of the game. This article brings together those memorable moments that happened on this day, which have gone beyond the scorecard and become a part of cricket history.
MS Dhoni made his ODI debut against Bangladesh on 23 December 2004. In his very first match played in Chattogram, Dhoni was run out on a duck, but the career that followed was spectacular. Although his first match was disappointing, the selectors maintained their faith in him. In the second ODI of the series against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam in April 2005, Dhoni played a magnificent innings of 148 runs off 123 balls while batting at number 3, which brought him into the limelight. Following this performance, he continued his aggressive batting and scored 183* against Sri Lanka in October 2005, which remains the highest individual score by a wicketkeeper. Dhoni was ranked as the number 1 batsman in the ICC ODI rankings in 2006 and in 2007, he was appointed captain of the Indian ODI team.
This marked the beginning of a cricket career that spread the dominance of Indian cricket across the world. India achieved many noteworthy victories under MS Dhoni's captaincy. He is the only captain in the world who has won all three ICC white-ball trophies - the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 Cricket World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. Dhoni is considered one of the greatest finishers in cricket and known for his composure under pressure and his ability to take matches to the end and finish them off in style. He played 350 ODI matches in his career and scored 10,773 runs with an average of 50.57, including 10 centuries and 73 half-centuries. Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on 15 August 2020, but still plays the domestic league IPL as a CSK player.
The IPL 2023 mini-auction held on 23 December 2022 in Kochi, Kerala, recorded something that had never been seen before in the world of cricket. The main highlight of this auction was England's star all-rounder Sam Curran. Punjab Kings placed a massive bid of ₹18.5 crore for him. After this, Curran surpassed Chris Morris's previous IPL auction record of ₹16.25 crore and became the most expensive player in IPL history. In the same auction, Australia's Cameron Green was also bought by the Mumbai Indians for ₹17.5 crore and England's Ben Stokes was acquired by Chennai Super Kings for ₹16.25 crore. This auction was also historic because the three most expensive players in IPL history were selected on the same day. Sam Curran achieved this record after his stellar performance as 'Player of the Tournament' in England's recent 2022 T20 World Cup victory.
At the beginning of the IPL in 2008, MS Dhoni was the most expensive player. In 2009, England's Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff became the most expensive players and marked the first time an overseas player held this distinction. Yuvraj Singh was bought by Delhi Daredevils for ₹16 crore in the 2015 auction and remained the most expensive Indian player for a long time until Ishan Kishan broke this record in 2022. Sam Curran's record was broken in the IPL 2024 auction by Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹24.75 crore. In the 2025 auction, Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in IPL history with a bid of ₹27 crore.
On this day in 2000, New Zealand won their first and only Women's One Day International World Cup title, defeating their arch-rivals Australia on home soil. This was the first time a team other than Australia or England had won the Women's ODI World Cup. The match was played at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln. New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first and scored a total of 184 in 50 overs. Belinda Clark played a captaincy's knock, scoring the highest score of 91 runs, but fell short of the target by 4 runs due to the unstable partnership on the crease. The Australian team was all out for 180 runs in 49.1 overs and lost the match.
New Zealand has won one ODI World Cup in 2000 and one T20I World Cup in 2024. They finished as runners-up three times in the ODI World Cup (1993, 1997, 2009) and twice in the T20 World Cup (2009, 2010). Along with Australia and England, New Zealand is one of only three teams to have participated in every edition of the Women's World Cup. In 2024, they won their first ICC Women's T20 World Cup title, which was New Zealand's first T20 World Cup title in either men's or women's cricket.
On this day in 2012, Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement through a press release issued by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). He made this decision just before the upcoming ODI series against Pakistan. At the time of his retirement, he was the leading run-scorer and century scorer in ODI cricket with 18,426 runs and 49 centuries. Sachin played his last ODI on 18 March 2012 against Pakistan in an Asia Cup match in Bangladesh, where he scored 52 runs of 48 balls with 5 fours and 1 six. Virat Kohli also scored a magnificent 183 runs in that match, and India won the match by 6 wickets.
In his 23-year ODI career, Sachin scored 18,426 runs in 463 matches and 15,921 runs in 200 Test matches. He is the only player to have scored 100 centuries in international cricket (51 in Tests, 49 in ODIs). He was the first batsman to score a double century in men's ODI history (200* runs against South Africa on February 24, 2010). He holds the world record for playing the most Test (200) and ODI (463) matches. He is the first Indian and one of the few cricketers overall to have played in six World Cups (1992 to 2011). He is also the first and only cricketer to receive the 'Bharat Ratna' (India's highest civilian award) for his contribution to the sport.
On 23 December 1981, Geoff Boycott became the highest run-scorer in Test cricket, surpassing Sir Garry Sobers' world record of 8,032 runs. He achieved this milestone during his 22nd Test century against India in Delhi. This match was the third Test of the series between India and England, played at the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground (now Arun Jaitley Stadium) in Delhi. India replied with 487 runs in their first innings, with Gundappa Viswanath scoring 107 and Ravi Shastri 93. The Test match ultimately ended in a draw. Upon the record being broken, Sunil Gavaskar reportedly said, "Congratulations, enjoy this record for two more years," and he himself broke the record 23 months later.
Boycott was considered one of the most determined opening batsmen in the game. He holds the unique and impressive record of not losing any of the 22 Test matches in which he scored a century (England either won or drew the match). Considered one of England's best batsmen of the 1970s, he is also a member of the ICC Hall of Fame. Boycott scored a total of 8,114 runs in the 108 Test matches he played in his career, which was a record at the time. These runs include his unbeaten 246 and 22 centuries.
New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult delivered his career’s best performance against the West Indies in an ODI match on 23 December 2017. The match was played at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, where Boult destroyed the West Indies batting lineup with his phenomenal performance. He took 7 wickets for just 34 runs in his 10 overs and helped New Zealand win the match by a massive margin of 204 runs and earned the Man of the Match award.
Boult is known for his exceptional ability to swing the new ball both ways, which has consistently troubled batsmen. West Indies won the toss and elected to field first. New Zealand scored 325 for 6 wickets in the first inning, with an unbeaten 83 from Henry Nicholls and 58 from George Worker. In the second innings, the West Indies were bowled out for just 121 runs, with the highest runs of 27 from Ashley Nurse. New Zealand won the match by a huge margin of 204 runs and Trent Boult was named the Man of the Match.
B.S. Chandrashekhar took 8 wickets for 79 runs in the first innings of the Test against England at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on this day in 1972. This was B.S. Chandrasekhar's best bowling performance in his 58-Test-match career. His spells helped to stop England's innings at 200 runs, despite them having a good start. Chandrashekhar was the star bowler of that Test series, taking a total of 35 wickets in 5 matches, which even today is the record for the most wickets taken by an Indian bowler in a Test series.
He overcame the challenge of having his right arm affected by polio in his childhood through sheer determination and a unique bowling style. He was one of India’s key match-winning bowlers overseas, especially in the series wins in England in 1971, the West Indies in 1976, and Australia in 1977–78. His performance of 6 wickets for 38 runs at The Oval in 1971 was chosen as the 'Indian Bowling Performance of the Century' by Wisden in 2002. The BCCI honoured Chandrashekhar with the C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
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