One of the greatest all-round years

Some years just stick with you. 

1971. India defeats the mighty West Indies on their home turf. Sunil Gavaskar storms international cricket. In the pre-Gavaskar era, we lost 42% of our Test matches. In the post-Gavaskar era, that fell to 27%.

1983. Kapil's Devils win the World Cup. The spiritual home of cricket shifts from England to India. In the next two years, we win the Sharjah Cup, Asia Cup and mini-World Cup.

2007. The T20 World Cup. MS Dhoni's "no-fear" team (aptly coined by Ian Chappell) is born. We rid ourselves of a lot of jinxes and many a new talent is born.

2010. So where does this year feature? While no single event dominates the calendar, a series of achievements could render it one of the greatest all-round years.

Text: Sunil Rajguru

Images: AP/AFP