Decade’s Lost and Found | Cricket’s waltz back to its old lover
As a 90s kid, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing a better part of the ‘golden era’ in cricket. While I still miss the magnificence of a certain Ricky Ponting or a Glenn McGrath, a Sachin Tendulkar or a Brian Lara, I’ve got to admit the new era has been far from disappointing.
To quote JK Rowling, “Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect.” A sport as good as magic itself ratifies the norms of the world of wizardry. And I, an ardent Potterhead, have inventoried the constituents of cricket that were lost in the last decade, but eventually found their way back to the world of magic.
Pakistan’s slow dance
Pakistan was burning with a terror attack on the Sri Lanka team bus, in Lahore in 2009, that had turned their fate around, enforcing a long halt on the nation hosting international cricket. Following that horror incident, that wounded multiple people including the Sri Lankan players, no team agreed to tour Pakistan due to security reasons, a dark spot that sustained for long. Due to that, a large chunk of their players never got to play on their home soil, with Pakistan hosting all games in the UAE. However, in one of the biggest second chances that cricket has ever bestowed, Pakistan was allowed to host Test cricket again. Life came a full circle for both the teams as Sri Lanka toured Pakistan for a Test series in December 2019, which gave the latter a rebirth as a cricketing nation.
Sourav Ganguly wears a new crown
The Prince of Calcutta, the Maharaja of Cricket and an extremely celebrated Indian captain; An aggressive, emotional and natural leader, Sourav Ganguly was a star in the making in the late nineties and a manifestation of all ambitions in the early 2000s. But like all good things, Ganguly’s reign came to an end. A rather abrupt and untimely end to a legendary run. But that’s for some other day. What matters is, the prince was crowned once again and got to sit on the throne that had once betrayed him. After controversial dethroning as captain in 2005, Ganguly bounced back to the helm of Indian cricket in 2019, only this time as the President of the ruling board.
New Zealand breaking the semifinal jinx
Oh, New Zealand! What can I say about a team that means the world to me but at the same time can turn my world upside down? Luckily, for me, the 2010s were much better for the team than the 2000s with the whole ‘Baz effect’ changing their entire approach towards the game. I still remember the heartbreak I had in the semifinal after we lost the game against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup. But in 2015, the day Grant Elliot hit that six off Dale Steyn’s bowling to get the team to their first-ever World Cup final, the semifinal jinx was broken forever. In 2019, New Zealand came excruciatingly close to winning the title but fate probably has some more waiting for them.
Pace bowling at its prime
I’ve grown up watching the express pace of the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee and a certain Andrew Flintoff. Dial 10 years back, who other than Dale Steyn would come to your mind if you think about pure pace? Cricket was swaying away from the 90mph brilliance until a 160kph thunderbolt from a certain Mitchell Starc broke the bat of Brendon McCullum, the most confident player in cricket. That delivery made us realize that the art of pace bowling was put back into life in the 2010s. The emergence of India’s Jasprit Bumrah, Australia’s Starc, Pat Cummins, James Pattinson, South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada, marked the highlight of this decade.
Liam Plunkett- a good old bottle of wine
How well has Liam Plunkett aged! While New Zealand’s World Cup final defeat had me shattered, Plunkett’s contribution in the disaster was better than his fellow bowlers. He was able to contain and dismiss the dangermen of the New Zealand top order, namely Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson and Jimmy Neesham, at Lord’s. This reinvention of his started in 2015 following England’s shameful World cup exit, after which the team turned to a long-estranged lover. A long on and off run in the 2000s had rendered the career of Plunkett completely irrelevant. But when England was longing for a companion, this old bottle of wine was opened, and opened for good.
The re-emergence of legspinners in limited-overs
Think back on the day, in June 2017, when an 18-year-old from a war-torn nation was orchestrating the second-best figures(7/18) in an ODI, away from home in the Caribbean. As you’ve guessed, it’s Rashid Khan, now an extremely familiar name. That was the day I realized cricket had earned back a missing puzzle. The era of quality leg-spin was back in the limited-overs format. From Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan making history to India’s Kuldeep Yadav bagging multiple hattricks in ODIs to South Africa using Imran Tahir as their strike bowler, these spinners have changed the face of leg spin-bowling in the shorter formats.
Karnataka’s prance back to winning ways
India’s domestic cricket scene is as glorious as ever. Once sitting at the helm was the Karnataka cricket team, but while growing up I only heard stories about the 90s when the side won three Ranji Trophies. A state that produced international stars like Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Venkatesh Prasad...and the list goes on, became irrelevant and swayed away from winning ways in the 2000s. But like I heard those fables about the 90s from my dad, Karnataka gave me a story to tell to my kids as well. In the 2010s, the team bagged the dream triple- Ranji, Irani and Vijay Hazare Trophies- twice in consecutive years. The gift of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair et al just comes added.
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