Hardly, I thought of writing this piece. After all, it was a draining start to the year 2025, as we move forward from 2024 with India losing their power from the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) for the very first time since 2015, by which they were two years old in winning their last ICC event. Well, they are around seven months old now. Throw back to 2024.
The idea of the piece grew in my small head while scrolling through my Instagram feed, enjoying a meme. Two guys were interacting with each other, one of them acted as the person who had already spent those 365 days of 2024, and the other performed the soul who would be going to enjoy the journey.
The first one funnily mentioned that Royal Challengers Bengaluru has finally won in 2024, as the second one offered a beaming smile, only the first guy reflecting that it didn’t happen in the Indian Premier League. The first person said that India finally got the better of Pat Cummins’ side in the final before pausing and reckoning that it happened in the IPL.
He also informed that India went on to win the ICC event after 11 years before stating that three legends (Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja) took retirement from the format. The funniest part for me was when the guy already spending 2024 mentioned that India won a home Test series, and the other one expressed that it’s nothing surprising, and the former nailed that the blue brigade was whitewashed in the next series. It ended when he mentioned that the tourists started the BGT 2024-25 with a win but didn’t face victory in the next six weeks.
Cricket’s Test Chain in 2024 version
That much roller-coaster the year 2024 was. There was fun, there was misery; there was happiness, there was sadness; there was a smile, there were drops in the eye; there was up, surely there were uncounted drops. So, where to start?
I have no idea whether you, as a reader, have an idea of the food chain. That depends on your biological knowledge. If you do have light on that prospect, then you would be aware of what I am going to address now. But even if you don’t know, no issue!! I will try to paint it out briefly. Basically, it’s the order in which organisms consume each other and keep on going ahead. Oops!! Sorry!! Not a biological class it is!! Let’s go back to the Food Test chain.
In 2024, India blew away Bangladesh at home in the red-ball series. The second Test at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur almost compared the Indian team’s mindset with the OG Australian side, who hardly lost anything in that golden period. The losing Bangladesh side was actually coming from a historic series in Pakistan, who somehow batted hard to win the following home series in the five-day format against England, who broke down Sri Lanka in the summer.
Sri Lanka then reached home and never made New Zealand look to be in the contest. Four weeks later, the same Kiwi side or one could undoubtedly reckon a little lighter Blackcaps in the absence of Kane Williamson, whitewashed India in the latter’s den, which happened for the very first time in the history of the game.
pic.twitter.com/WIXijWvxfk https://t.co/1MZXaB6Kxf
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 31, 2024
India then turned up and created a few holes in the Australian side in the first Test of the latter’s summer at the Optus in Perth. The Pat Cummins-led side then beat India in the series but lost to West Indies, who, in June, at home, lost the five-day format against South Africa, who actually started the year with a crazy defeat in 106 overs to India before the Table Mountains of Newlands, Cape Town.
If you haven’t realized this Test chain, go through it again. It’s totally mad.
When will we have little urgency to save the words we express?
But then, what the talking point of the year was? It was about Shamar Joseph, Gus Atkinson, or Jasprit Bumrah. In the batting department, it was Kamindu Mendis, Sri Lanka’s newly constructed Don Bradman, Yashasvi Jaiswal, India’s left-handed Virender Sehwag, those two lads from Yorkshire, young Harry Brook and the evergreen Joe Root.
The craziest thing for me in the year 2024 was lacking common sense, and all of these only take place in Test cricket. The first of these was in the England summer. I was tired after a long day’s work and felt a bit drowsy in the evening, and almost took a nap with my television screen displaying the second day’s play of the third England and Sri Lanka Test at the Kennington Oval in South London. For a moment, my eyelids, which were moving slowly, rushed up, and I almost fell off the bed when I found Chris Woakes was bowling off-spin.
A little research, and I got to know that it was because of the bad light. For thought, it was perhaps for his back spasm like Ollie Robinson did in the Ashes 2022. So, I went off to wash my eyes and two minutes later found Gus Atkinson running in with sheer pace. Ridiculous is the word you are looking for. In the previous Test at Lord’s, the umpires took the players off because a few clouds only started to gather on the ground.
Then recently, I saw India facing Australia at the Gabba. Akash Deep nailed Pat Cummins for a six in the stands, only for the umpire to take the players off to bad light. I just can’t help but believe it. Mark Nicholas, one of the veterans of the commentary box, was stunned and had no idea of it. It’s the same when Mohammad Rizwan smashed Mark Wood for two boundaries in 2020 during the Manchester Test, and the umpires suddenly felt it wasn’t safe to play. Are we really in 2024, or we have gone past it actually!!
There was a time in the past when we used to have Test cricket all around. We don’t have that. So, when we do have some, it’s important to stay. It’s important to make everything possible to stay in the middle as long as it doesn’t get unacceptable. I don’t know if they could suddenly in the middle of the game could replace the red cherry with a pink one, but something needs to be done. So, what you do reckon? It’s not 2024, it’s 2025, will we change? A big NOOO!!
The 2025 menu card is here
Leave 2024 now!! The upcoming year is going to be massive. It has started already, but one of the biggest few series will be India touring England in June, the WTC 2023-25 at Lord’s, the home Ashes for Australia, India’s first Test series at home without Ravichandran Ashwin, who has suspiciously retired from international cricket. What else do we have? We have the West Indies touring Pakistan after 18 years, we have Zimbabwe tripping England for a four-day Test after 22 years, and so on.
But the doubt will be around its future, not for you staying in one of India, England Australia, or perhaps South Africa, if they somehow lift the mace.
Author: That mAd wrIter
Someone who loves how Steve Smith from being Australia's future Shane Warne has become present Don Bradman, gets inspired by Anderson's longevity, gets awed with Kohli's drive and Southee's bowling action. Never gets excited with stats and records, and believes in instincts, and always questions spinners bowling with the new ball.
