Published 19:58 IST, December 12th 2020
MSD's retirement, Anderson's record & Kohli's milestone: Top cricketing moments in 2020
The year 2020 offered a lot of memorable moments in cricket right from MSD's retirement after a successful career to James Anderson's unique feat of 600 scalps
The year 2020 offered a lot of memorable moments in cricket which also had its fair share of upsets as well. Two of Indian Cricket's longest servants bid adieu to the game at the highest level, Team India dominated in the shortest format of the game while this year also saw a fast bowler registering 600 wickets in the history of international cricket. So without further ado, let's take a look at the top cricketing moments of 2020.
1. MS Dhoni retires from international cricket
On August 15, legendary cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni took to Instagram and announced that he is bidding adieu to international cricket after having served the nation for 16 years on the cricket field and almost a decade as a captain as Team India went on to win all the major titles under his reign.
'From 1929 Hrs, Consider Me Retired', read Mahi's Insta post.
In the background, the former skipper's favourite music 'Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon' from the 1976 Amitabh Bachchan-Rakhee Gulzar starrer 'Kabhie Kabhie' was also played.
2. Suresh Raina follows his good friend MSD
Moments after MSD had announced his retirement from international cricket, his former Indian and current Chennai team-mate, as well as good friend Suresh Raina, also joined him as he decided to bid adieu to the game at the highest level after having served Indian Cricket for 15 years. The veteran middle-order batsman also did not participate in the Dream11 IPL 2020 as he returned back to India due to personal reasons. He was dearly missed as Chennai failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the inception of the marquee tournament in 2008.
3. James Anderson registers 600 Test scalps
Jimmy Anderson became the first pacer in history to register 600 scalps in the longest format. He had achieved this feat during the third and final Test match against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton when he had accounted for former Pak skipper Azhar Ali.
Meanwhile, the veteran pacer also became the only fast bowler to pick 600 wickets in the history of international cricket as well i.e. including Tests and One Day Internationals. Anderson is now the fourth-highest wicket-taker in red-ball cricket after the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (709), and, Anil Kumble (619) respectively. While Muralitharan was an off-spinner, his counterparts Warne and Kumble were leggies.
4. Glenn Maxwell & Alex Carey's match-winning partnership
This had happened during the series-deciding third and final ODI that was played between arch-rivals England and Australia at the Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester on 16 September 2020. Chasing a stiff total of 303, the Aussies had lost half their side for just 73 runs on the board. The middle-order duo of Glenn Maxwell (108) and wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey (106) took matters into their own hands and added 212 runs for the sixth-wicket stand as the five-time world champions snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by three wickets with a couple of balls to spare.
5. Katherine Brunt avoids Mankading in ICC Women's T20 WC
Katherine Brunt did something which was in the right spirit of the game but then ended up costing her team during England's ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 encounter against South Africa at the WACA Ground in Perth back in February. The pacer avoided a Mankading in the final over of the contest just when the match could have gone either way. In the end,the former champions lost the match. Had Brunt ran out Luus then the scenario could have been completely different as South Africa would have felt the pressure of losing an extra wicket at a crucial juncture.
The video of Katherine Brunt's act of kindness was posted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on their official Twitter handle.
6. Rahul Tewatia's five sixes in an over
Rahul Tewatia hammered Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, the Rajasthan all-rounder almost nailed the perfect over by smacking six sixes in an over. This had happened during Rajasthan's IPL 2020 season opener against northern-rivals Punjab in Sharjah while the former champions were chasing a mammoth target of 224. Tewatia had not even reached double figures in the first 20 deliveries. However, he went on to score his half-century off just 30 deliveries and finished with an unbeaten 31-ball 53 as the pace duo of Cottrell and Mohammed Shami were smashed to all corners of the Sharjah Cricket Stadium as Rajasthan comfortably got past the finish line.
7. Nicholas Pooran defies gravity to save a maximum
In the same contest, Windies sensation Nicholas Pooran had showcased some brilliant athleticism on the field as he saved a big six. On the third delivery, spinner Murugan Ashwin bowled half-tracker and Sanju Samson clobbered it effortlessly. At one point, it appeared as if the ball would travel the distance. However, it was not to be as Pooran who was stationed at deep mid-wicket stretched forward to take a one-handed stunner with his left hand and when he learned that he would not be able to complete the catch as he was already heading towards the boundary rope, the West Indian player threw the ball back just in the nick of time before landing on the other side of the boundary.
8. Delhi make their first-ever IPL final appearance
The Shreyas Iyer-led side who had finished third last season were on a roll this year as they showcased a clinical performance on the field. They were also regarded as one of the firm favourites to win the showpiece event. Nonetheless, they did go on to suffer a few setbacks at the backend of the league phase. Delhi beat Bangalore in their final group game to finish second in the points table and set up a clash against the mighty Mumbai in Qualifier 1 which they went on to lose by a mammoth 57 runs after being reduced to 0/3 in the second over during a stiff chase of 201.
Iyer & Co. then defeated the Orange Army in Qualifier 2 and looked to rewrite history against Rohit Sharma's brigade in the summit clash but it wasn't to be as the reigning champions made it a one-sided affair by registering a five-wicket win chasing 157. In fact, Delhi could not get the better of the five-time champions even once in this year's tournament in all the four matches that the two sides had featured in ( Two league games + Playoff & Final).
9. Virat Kohli gets past 22,000 international runs
Indian skipper Virat Kohli might not have scored a single century this year but he did get to a couple of milestones in the recently-concluded ODI series against Australia. He breached the 12,000-run mark in One Day Internationals during the 3rd ODI at Canberra and at the same time, became the sixth batsman to go past 12,000 ODI runs.The batting megastar also became the fastest cricketer in the world to do so, bettering the record of former Indian captain and batting icon Sachin Tendulkar’s record by 58 innings.
Before VK had amassed 12K ODI runs, he had notched up yet another mammoth feat during the second ODI at the SCG three days earlier when he crossed the 22,000 run-mark in international cricket after having scored 89 during India's run chase of 390.
10. Team's India's dominance in the shortest format
The year 2020 has been a good one for the Men In Blue in the game's shortest format. The Virat Kohli-led side had handed a 5-0 whitewash to New Zealand in their own backyard at the beginning of this year and have recently defeated the Aussies Down Under. They lost the dead-rubber at the SCG by 12 runs but ended up winning the T20I series for the second time on Australian soil.
Updated 19:58 IST, December 12th 2020