SportsCafe’s year-defining moments of the decade

12/27/2019

It was an era-defining decade in the history of cricket, with not only some of the greatest of the generation retiring from the sport, but it also saw the arrival of some of the finest as well. We, at SportsCafe, roll the clock back to find that one event that defined every year in this decade.

2010 - Match-fixing scandal

It was not the greatest of starts to this decade as the ICC found out that the Pakistani trio of Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir was part of a spot-fixing scandal during the Lord's Test in 2010. The trio were subsequently banned but the way the situation was handled with prevarication and ambiguity left a lot to be desired. In Pakistan, some elements remained in denial with conspiracy theories emerging, but the trio’s admission three years later made things clear as daylight. They subsequently returned to cricket - with only Amir going on to play for Pakistan - but cricket had lost some of its true devouts for the tainted trio’s act.

2011- India's World Cup win

If 2010 was bad for the World, with spot-fixing scandal taking precedence, then 2011 broke new grounds. Growing up with the 1983 tales of Kapil and his band of boys, India needed a story of their own, especially after crashing out of the 2007 World Cup. 2011 brought that smile back as MS Dhoni and co. dominated oppositions across the lengths and breadths of the country to eventually lift the cup for the second time. Indian cricket had found a new Hercules while giving a fitting tribute to Sachin Tendulkar’s quest of winning one. It was just about the perfect script that could ever have been.

2012 - Legends' swansong

2011 World Cup brought a lot of joy to Indian cricket but the euphoria had been replaced by regular under-performance in subsequent series, with India losing to almost everyone they faced in Test cricket after that. It needed some fresh injection of new talents, a new perspective, as 2012 saw it happening. Not only did in Indian cricket, but many legends of world cricket also started announcing their retirement from the sport, making the game a little poorer yet a little richer. The likes of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Ricky Ponting calling it a day to their international career while the swansong of Jacques Kallis had already been started. The legends were slowly fading away into oblivion.

2013 - Sachin Tendulkar retirement

Having announced his ODI retirement a year earlier, the pressure was on Tendulkar to call it a day from Test cricket too. The emergence of the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli as solid Test batsmen had a role to play in it but Tendulkar found his own day. BCCI, cancelling the Test series in South Africa, announced a short two-match Test series against Windies, with Tendulkar playing his 200th Test as the final one at his home town in Mumbai. The world came to a standstill as the Master Blaster delivered the most poignant speech ever by a cricketer. Nothing could triumph the moment of that speech as 2013 came to a close.

2014 - Phil Hughes Death

Everything was going right, the IPL investigation scandal, Pakistan trio had already admitted their wrong-doings, and the world cricket was seeing some incredible moments. But until that day in November when everything changed. A cricket ball could take life was beyond the realms of expectations. But when a bouncer from Sean Abbott hit Phillip Hughes’ head in a Sheffield Shield game at the Sydney Cricket Ground and subsequently, the South Australia youngster, on the verge of a comeback to the national team, died in the hospital. It remained a black-day in history of cricket.

2015- The rise of Fab four

There couldn’t be a sadder end for the sport in 2014 but the following year brought some incredible news. The rise of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root is one of the stories of this decade and the quartet has risen the level of batsmanship from conservatism to sheer dominance. Virat Kohli had a bad outing in England in 2014 but he had made up for that in Australia series with Smith looking imperious. Root and Williamson could not have done anything wrong as the sport found four of its best of the generation.

2016 - The year of West Indies

2016 was truly the year of the underdogs - they went well beyond the realm of dreams and accomplished impossible feats. It was the tale of a team who achieved success - not through nerve-racking struggle, but with unbounded joy. Windies overcame all odds to become World T20 Champions, their women’s scaled the zenith and the colts made sure that it was triple-triple for them. Undoubtedly, the year was brought some red-letter memories and boy, did the Windies not win a lot of hearts in the process.

2017- Pakistan winning Champions Trophy

The defining moment of 2017 came from another team that has always been the sport’s biggest contrarians. When Pakistan, after being thrashed by India in their campaign opener, went on to win the trophy, it had to be a story. A story big enough to bring Pakistan in the discussion once again, a story that celebrated the Pakistani "jazba" like no other, and a story that created a buzz that would be talked about for years to come.

2018 - Sandpaper Gate

India won in Australia, Indian pacers dominated talks like no other, but the defining moment of 2018 came when Cameron Bancroft was found his hands struck down his pants. The moment Australia was caught of doing ball-tampering, it led to sackings, resignations, culture reviews and bans. The greatest-ever Test player of our generation had been banned from cricket for a year and it was the moment everything seemed to have left a bitter taste of their own.

2019 - The Summer of Ben Stokes

It was the summer of Ben Stokes. It was the summer of redemption. A lot of storylines have been attached to this year as England crowned World Cup Champions. But at the heart of it was Ben Stokes, who emerged as England’s cult hero and Sports Personality of the Year. BBC’s crowning moment to celebrate Stokes’ mad summer that saw him pulling off one of the most incredible run-chases of all-time in Headingley was not just great for England Cricket but also for the whole of England as cricket finally set to move beyond paywall this year.