We are in the last few weeks of the year 2021 and we can easily say that it has been one of the best years for Cricket in a while. Let's have a look at the best cricketing moments of the year 2021.
The Gabba fiasco
Tim Paine would still regret what he told Ashwin as India's visit to the Gabba turned out to be a huge disappointment for the hosts, Australia. A fortress that wasn't breached in 21 years was breached and all that after Paine so confidently challenged Ashwin in the Test match that was played prior.
A classic Indian comeback, courtesy of Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, and most importantly Rishabh Pant who scored the winning runs.
Incessant Australian struggle
After a tough series defeat by India, Australia had a bizarre run of form in the shortest format of the game too, as they lost to New Zealand but the worst was yet to come.
New Zealand were shambolic in T20Is against both West Indies and Bangladesh, 4-1. One of Australia's worst runs in their history, they truly were far from what they are usually in world cricket. However, an argument can be made because several key players were out of the squad, it would be very unfair on Bangladesh as it was still a strong squad compared to Bangladesh on paper.
IPL drama
The 2021 IPL was a special one as it was the first IPL edition to be played throughout more than a couple of months. After a COVID-19 scare in the bio-bubble of various franchises, the decision of suspending the season was taken.
However, the BCCI then revealed that the tournament would be continued and resume from where it was suspended in September. It was truly a decision that was loved by every cricket fan as we witnessed an action-packed IPL season that went down to the wire, with Chennai Super Kings eventually winning their fourth IPL title.
Australia vs Pakistan T20 World Cup semi-final
The ICC Men's T20 World Cup had several high-octane matches and upsets but none of them were as worthy of being a 2021 moment like this one.
Pakistan, who dominated every game of the competition fell short to Australia after a Hasan Ali scare as he missed sitter, with Matthew Wade whose catch was dropped eventually hitting three back-to-back sixes to finish the game and knockout Pakistan from the tournament. Not to forget, Australia had a poor start but courtesy of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, they got the opportunity to settle into the game.
India's changing administration
Numerous changes were witnessed in India's management with Ravi Shastri stepping down as India's Head Coach. Rahul Dravid filled his shoes but the more eye-catching news was Virat Kohli announcing his tenure end as India's T20 and Royal Challengers Bangalore's captain.
More drama followed as Virat Kohli was replaced by Rohit Sharma as India's ODI captain, something that Kohli was not in favor of as reported by the media. Recently, it was revealed that Virat Kohli won't be part of India's ODI series against South Africa due to personal reasons, while Rohit Sharma will be missing the Test series due to an injury.
So these were some of the best moments of this year. Do you have any specific ones? Also, what do you feel about the alleged rift between Kohli and Sharma being the cause of these decisions? Well, stay tuned with Cricwizz to know more!
Cover Credits: CricketAustraliaofficial
