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Published : Jan 16, 2025 09:46 IST – 7 MINS READ
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End of an agonising wait: The Indian team won the ICC 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup with a narrow win over South Africa in Barbados on June 29, 2024. | Photo Credit: K. R. Deepak
The Indian men’s cricket team’s fortunes ebbed and flowed with the vagaries of different formats in 2024, as Rohit Sharma’s men oscillated between the delight of a T20 World Cup win in the Americas and a debilitating Test series defeat against New Zealand at home.
If India laid hands on an International Cricket Council (ICC) trophy after 11 years when it beat South Africa in a nerve-jangling final, it also frittered away a coveted 12-year unbeaten record at home in the longest format by conceding a 0-3 series sweep for the first time in its backyard. Its agony in Tests spilled over on its tour of Australia, where it fell to a 1-2 deficit in the five-match series before relinquishing its hold on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the new year for the first time since 2014-15.
The string of losses in Tests, both at home and Down Under, put stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit under the scanner months after they retired on a high from the shortest format of the game following the T20 World Cup triumph.
Youngsters take over
The star duo’s woes against spin bowling at home were emblematic of India’s festering malaise, epitomised by the humbling loss to the Kiwis. Rohit’s men were handed a jolt in a defeat to England in spin-friendly conditions in Hyderabad earlier in the year, but the team course-corrected in relatively benign conditions to clinch the series 4-1 against the visiting ‘Bazballers.’
Even as the year ended on a sour note for the Indians, the genius of Jasprit Bumrah, the top wicket-taker in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Nitish Kumar Reddy’s all-round potential, and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s prolific run with the bat were the silver linings.
In limited-overs cricket, the horizons expanded significantly for India with a host of youngsters ushering in the ‘GenNext’ era. While the side couldn’t register a single win in the three One-Day Internationals it played in 2024, losing to Sri Lanka 0-2 away, the T20I brigade lost just two out of 26 matches, ransacking attacks at an average run rate of 9.55 — the highest for a Full Member in the year.
India also registered its highest total in the format — a scarcely believable 297 for six against Bangladesh in Hyderabad. The architect of that mammoth score, Sanju Samson, would go on to slam two more T20I hundreds in the four-match series against South Africa to finally cement his spot in the team. Samson, Tilak Varma, who also struck twin hundreds on that tour, and opener Abhishek Sharma emerged as the leaders of the newfangled Indian T20I batting set-up.
At a crossroads: Demoralising Test defeats against New Zealand and Australia have raised questions over the future of Indian stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. | Photo Credit: AFP
The wheels for this charge of the young brigade were set in motion during an unprecedented Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which saw the average run rate soar to 9.56 in 2024 from 8.99 in 2023. The Impact Player rule, instituted in 2023, saw teams aim for the stratosphere as eight of the league’s top 10 highest team totals were registered in 2024, altering the lexicon of the format and reducing bowlers to hapless bystanders.
This was, however, in stark contrast to the T20 World Cup that followed.
With a large part of the tournament being held on sluggish drop-in pitches in the USA, the average run-scoring plummeted to 7.09 per six balls — the lowest ever run rate for a single edition in the competition’s history. Thus, cricket’s American experiment was a far cry from the star-spangled spectacle it was billed to be.
T20s for the win
However, T20s continued to be the gateway drug for cricket, with a record 654 contests being played in 2024 — the most in any calendar year, in addition to the relentless cacophony of global franchise leagues. Underdog New Zealand’s victorious Women’s T20 World Cup campaign in the UAE also added gloss to the format’s penchant for unpredictability.
Meanwhile, one-day cricket’s status as an orphaned child only grew more acute as just 104 international matches were played in the format, the least since 1994. After the 2023 World Cup, not too many teams wanted to go through the rigours of the 50-over format, with only four of the top eight teams featuring in the top 12 list of teams that played the greatest number of ODIs in 2024.
India and New Zealand, with three games apiece, were placed at the bottom of the 20-team list. Bilateral one-day cricket also failed to strike a chord with fans and find context, and the year witnessed a solitary five-match series between England and Australia, despite the ICC Champions Trophy looming.
It was a thrilling year for Test cricket, with just three out of 50 matches being drawn as teams increasingly gunned for result-orientated pitches against the backdrop of the World Test Championship (WTC). The Proteas typified the dramatic year that was for the longest format.
Inspiring win: The White Ferns had endured a 10-match losing streak before the T20 World Cup. But they’ve now claimed their first-ever T20 title, ending a wait that included back-to-back final losses in 2009 and 2010. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
From sending a second-string side to New Zealand owing to the absence of its top stars, who were engaged with the SA20 T20 franchise league, South Africa qualified for its first WTC final after a string of strong performances at home and a series sweep in Bangladesh, setting up a tantalising summit clash with defending champion Australia.
Breakneck speed
Test cricket also witnessed its fastest scoring year ever, with teams going at an average of 3.65 runs an over. England’s subversive ‘Bazball’ style led the way, topping charts by scoring at 4.38 runs an over even if results didn’t favour the Brendon McCullum-coached side.
But it wasn’t just merrymaking for the batters as bowlers revelled in friendly conditions, with 2024 logging the lowest strike rate (48.6) in a year where at least 10 matches were played. Quite fittingly, the year had started with the shortest completed Test match ever, with India beating South Africa in just 107 overs in Cape Town.
There were as many as 21 away wins, a prized commodity in Test cricket, which included Bangladesh sweeping Pakistan, Sri Lanka winning in England, and New Zealand running riot in India.
These unexpected reverses should serve as a touchstone for the custodians of the game, who are contemplating a two-tier structure for Test cricket that could limit the possibility of these historic upsets that add to the game’s folklore.
In 2025
India will look for a strong start to the new year in the limited-overs series against England at home, leading into the ICC Champions Trophy taking place for the first time since 2017.
The IPL, beginning in late March, will have an air of novelty as 10 freshly crafted teams will look to dethrone Kolkata Knight Riders.
India will hope to quickly recover from a disappointing end to 2024 in red-ball cricket as a daunting task awaits in the form of a five-Test tour of England in June, where the team will look to go one better than the 2-2 series result last time out. The post-R. Ashwin era of home Tests will get underway later in the year as West Indies and South Africa visit, and India looks to reclaim a place in the next WTC final.
The new year could also throw up some surprise announcements and elevations as a few Indian stalwarts head into the twilight of their careers.
The Indian Women’s team will look to zero in on the best possible squad of players through the bilateral series and the Women’s Premier League ahead of a home ODI World Cup in the second half of the year.
Look out for
With a match-winning 34-ball 74 in just his second T20I appearance and a hundred at the iconic MCG in just his fourth Test, you could argue Nitish Kumar Reddy already had a breakout year in 2024. | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Nitish Kumar Reddy: With a match-winning 34-ball 74 in just his second T20I appearance and a hundred at the iconic MCG in just his fourth Test, you could argue Nitish Kumar Reddy already had a breakout year in 2024. But, with the unique skill set he brings to the table, the 21-year-old could seal his place as an all-format international for his country in 2025. His ability with bat and ball provides more balance to the team in 50-over cricket, and that could see him find a spot in the Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.
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Virat Kohli /
Rohit Sharma /
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Brendon McCullum
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