Of course, the year would also be remembered for the retirements of two of the “original” Fab Five, Kumble and Ganguly, leaving Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid to carry the torch may be for another season or two. While the spotlight was on the seniors, India got a young captain in Dhoni whose unorthodox but uncanny leadership won him rave reviews, even granting that he is still to lead a team in a full series abroad.
In Images: The best of ODIs 2008
A 5-0 ODI series win against England, followed by the successful Test campaign, not to mention the 2-0 drubbing of touring Australians (Dhoni captained in both the Tests), have all provided Dhoni a splendid track record as a captain, much in contrast to his England counterpart Pietersen whose courage in bringing his team back to India in difficult circumstances deserve the highest commendation. True, there was a financial angle to the Test series, but England’s gesture was a truly laudable one.
Individually for India, four batsmen — Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambhir and Laxman - crossed the 1,000-run mark in Tests in the calendar year while off-spinner Harbhajan, despite faring poorly against England, still ended up with 63 wickets.
Further, the meteoric and continuing development of young fast bowler Ishant Sharma coupled with Zaheer Khan’s rebirth as a truly world-class new-ball exponent, added a lot of sharpness to the Indian attack, thus providing the team an enviable balance and all-round ability.
The other notable feature has been leg-spinner Amit Sharma’s rise as a bowler of immense potential, though, it is far too early to say that he has filled the huge boots of Kumble (I doubt if anyone will ever). Then there was Yuvraj Singh, the precocious and temperamental southpaw who showed signs of maturity and discipline to cement his place in the Test team following the exit of Ganguly.
In Images: The Sporting event of the year | Hailing our heroes: India’ finest left-arm quick
Thus, the year was a cricketing watershed for India that also hosted the path-breaking IPL T20 competition.
In fact, the millions of dollars that the IPL generated left most of us stumped as it roped in a new generation of spectators and some innovative (the old school would dub it as vulgar and obscene) marketing gimmicks, complete with music and imported cheerleaders in skimpy outfits. Convention and old-world decorum were thrown out of the window as cricket entered a new world of slam-bang and instant entertainment that made even the ODIs a crawl while also making Test cricket seem like a huge bore for the paying public.
While Cricket India glowed with untold and unprecedented riches, both in talent and financially, the rest of the cricketing world was left in a catch-up mode, unable to come anywhere close to India.
Australia appeared to be on a cyclical slide; the West Indies faced bankruptcy; the South Africans struggled to overcome the apartheid hangover; England were barely able to put up 15 fully fit players most of whom had one eye on the IPL plum; New Zealand and Bangladesh made up the numbers, while Pakistan and Sri Lanka, despite the talent, were embroiled in internal politics apart from issues involving errant players, doping scandals and indiscipline.
The 2008 Sports Yearender | Full Coverage: England in India
It was hardly a surprise then that India emerged as the cricketing superpower whose financial muscle was evident in the post-Sydney Test episode. Not for nothing did Ponting openly acknowledge that cricket revolved around India where cricket evolved itself from a mere sport to a business to a flourishing industry that fed the families of not just the players, but also former cricketers several of whom made a killing with commentary deals.
Without doubt, the Mumbai terrorist attack cast a long shadow on the cricketing world just because it happened in India. It was a testimony to India being the most favoured cricketing destination when England agreed to return for the Test series. One of the most telling fallouts was the India-Pakistan relations, not just cricketing but also political.
The Pakistan board lost big time with the cancellation of India’s scheduled tour. Only the naïve and just-born would believe that sport can be insulated from politics.
It is to be seen how cricket would survive, much less grow, in the worsening global economic scenario and massive credit crunch.
Like in Formula One, huge money is riding on cricket, and I doubt if sport can remain untouched by the meltdown. Under the circumstances, the New Year could prove the biggest test cricket has ever faced.
But for now, it is best to savour the wonderful cricketing moments of the year gone by, for one never can tell if everything would be the same, much less better, in 2009.
