11 surprising moments in cricket which you didn't expect at all in 2013

9. Revival of Mitchell Johnson

Mitchell Johnson has been fast, aggressive and accurate against England

Fast, aggressive and accurate. That’s how one would describe Mitchell Johnson’s bowling form lately against England. Two Ashes Test down, Australia leading 2-0 and two Man of the Match awards for the pacer speak volumes of his influence in the series so far.

It should be noted that before this series, Johnson had played only 3 Tests in the past year for Australia. However, he did well in this year’s IPL, picked up 24 wickets and finished joint third with Harbhajan Singh. He wasn’t selected for the Ashes tour of England but did well in the Champions Trophy. We all are impressed with his recent form but all in all he had a decent year all round.

8. India winning the ICC Champions Trophy

India winning the ICC Champions Trophy 2013

India had a terrific year. They won 5 ODI series this year. So, winning the ICC Champions Trophy might not just sound as exciting it should be. But it was. After suffering an embrassing whitewash of 4-0 in the Test series in 2011, India lost the only T20I and the ODI series as well on that tour. They didn’t manage to win a single match against England in the entire tour.

With the rise of unprecendented rise of Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja in the tournament ensured India winning the elusive ICC Champions Trophy making MS Dhoni the only captain to win all the major ICC tournaments.