India ended this cricketing season on a high with a 4-0 whitewash of England in the Test series. The team have been involved in matches in all three formats of the game, in India, West Indies, Zimbabwe, and even the USA.
In what has been a fantastic year for Indian cricket, we take a look at the top 5 moments from this year:
#5 Asia Cup T20 victory
India won the Asia Cup T20 on March 06 by defeating Bangladesh in the final at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.
The match was shortened to 15 overs per side after rain delayed the start, and Bangladesh were put to bat after India won the toss. The hosts were struggling at 5 for 75 after Mortaza’s departure in the 12th over but Mahmudullah’s brilliant effort set a target for 121 for the Indian team, which was not a big total to chase for the star-studded Indian batting line-up. A calm chase from Shikhar Dhawan (60 runs off 44 balls) and Virat Kohli (41 runs off 28 balls) saw them through.
After the Asia Cup victory, MS Dhoni became the only captain in cricketing history to win five major tournaments (ICC World Cup, ICC World T20, ICC Champions Trophy, Asia Cup and Asia Cup T20). This was also India’s sixth Asia Cup title - the most by any team.
India’s road to Asia Cup T20 victory
Group Stage
Match 1: Defeated Bangladesh by 45 runs
Match 2: Defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets
Match 3: Defeated Sri Lanka by 5 wickets
Match 4: Defeated UAE by 9 wickets
Final
Defeated Bangladesh by 8 wickets
#4 Ashwin’s 13-for against New Zealand and India receive the Test championship mace
India completed a 3-0 whitewash of New Zealand and also received the Test championship mace on October 11, with Ravichandran Ashwin returning with his best bowling figures in Tests. Ashwin’s figures of 7 for 59 were his best in Test cricket, as were his match figures of 13 for 140. His figures were the seventh best by an Indian bowler in Tests.
Ashwin, who has had a great season with both the bat and the ball, took 13 wickets for 140 runs against the Kiwis in the third Test match of the series at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore. This was his sixth ten-wicket haul in Tests, and he got one more against England in the next series.
He was at his lethal best against the New Zealand batsmen who struggled against him. He got the better of their best batsmen, Kane Williamson, in both the innings. The icing on the cake was when India were handed the ICC Test Championship mace at the end of the match.
The Tamil Nadu all-rounder has been the most influential player in India’s journey to the No.1 spot in Test rankings.
He is currently the No. 1 bowler and the No. 1 all-rounder in Tests and will look to maintain his spot in the next season.
Best bowling figures in a match by an Indian bowler
Narendra Hirwani | 16/136 (vs West Indies, 1988) |
Harbhajan Singh | 15/217 (vs Australia, 2001) |
Jasubhai Patel | 14/124 (vs Australia, 1959) |
Anil Kumble | 14/149 (vs Pakistan, 1999) |
Vinoo Mankad | 13/131 (vs Pakistan, 1952) |
Javagal Srinath | 13/132 (vs Pakistan, 1999) |
Ravichandran Ashwin | 13/140 (vs New Zealand, 2016) |
#3 Virat Kohli’s fabulous innings against Australia in World T20
The world witnessed something special from Virat Kohli on March 26 at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. In a must-win match for India, Kohli played one of the best innings of his life, leading one of the best chases in T20 history.
Australian skipper, Steve Smith, took a risk when he decided to bat first after winning the toss considering Kohli’s chasing ability and were set a target of 161 by the Aussies. The chase looked difficult for India after Watson got both the Indian openers out inside the powerplay. But Kohli had other plans and carried on with the chase, scoring boundaries effortlessly by placing the ball in the gaps. India needed 67 runs off 36 balls when Yuvraj Singh got out on 21 at the end of the 14th over.
Kohli was then joined by MS Dhoni at the crease, who provided the perfect support to Kohli. The two ran brilliantly between the wickets converting singles into two, but India still had a huge task ahead of them as they needed 47 runs off the last 4 overs. Then came something special from Kohli, scoring 19 runs off James Faulkner in the 18th over and 16 from the next over from Nathan Coulter-Nile. This brilliant effort from Kohli saw India through with 5 balls to spare.
The Indian Test captain fell to knees at the end of the match, tired from all the hard work that he had put into the chase. He solidified his spot as the world’s best chaser with this innings.
#2 Dhoni’s incredible run out against Bangladesh in the World T20
The match between India and Bangladesh on March 23 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore saw one of the best last ball finishes in the history of cricket. The finisher on the occasion was once again MS Dhoni, but this time he did not finish it with a six but with a run-out.
Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah had bowled their quota of overs with the latter bowling an excellent penultimate over. Dhoni was left with Hardik Pandya for the last over with Bangladesh needing 11 runs from it. A single and two fours from Mushfiqur Rahim brought it down to just 2 runs from 3 balls. It was a fairly easy task for the Bangladesh batsmen but they made a mess of it as Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah got out off the next two deliveries.
It all came down to the last ball of the match. Bangladesh needed 2 runs off 1 ball. Both the teams wanted more than a draw. Dhoni took off the glove from his right hand expecting the batsman to miss the ball and run for a bye.
Pandya bowled it short outside the off-stump and Shuvagata Hom missed it, and it was a race to the stumps for Dhoni and Mustafizur Rahman – one to stump, the other to cross the crease. Dhoni collected the ball in his right hand and sprinted towards the stumps, beating Rahman by centimetres. This incredible feat from MS Dhoni gave India an unlikely win.
#1 Karun Nair’s triple century
The best moment for Indian cricket this year came on December 19 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai in their last match of the season. Karun Nair, playing in just his third Test Match, became the second Indian batsman to score a triple century after he scored an unbeaten 303 against England.
The 25-year old Karnataka batsman converted his maiden Test century into a triple century becoming the first Indian player in 8 years to score a triple century after Virender Sehwag’s 319 against South Africa at the same venue.
Karun Nair resumed the fourth day on 71 and scored an incredible 232 runs on the fifth day to reach his triple hundred, pacing his innings beautifully. The whole cricketing world showered praise on the young batsman after his fantastic knock.
The match also saw a brilliant innings from KL Rahul who was unfortunate to get out on 199.
Top 5 highest scores by an Indian batsman
Virender Sehwag | 319 (vs South Africa, 2008) |
Virender Sehwag | 309 (vs Pakistan, 2004) |
Karun Nair | 303* (vs England, 2016) |
Virender Sehwag | 293 (vs Sri Lanka, 2009) |
VVS Laxman | 281 (vs Australia, 2001) |
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