Indian cricket in 2024: A year of highs, shocks and transitions

For Indian cricket, the year 2024 ebbed and flowed with drama at every nook and corner.

While a memorable triumph in the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup 2024 held in the USA and West Indies marked a definite high for cricket fans in the country, a shocking Test series whitewash against New Zealand on home soil came as a terrible shock.

With Gautam Gambhir replacing Rahul Dravid as the team’s head coach and Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja retiring from T20I cricket after the T20 World Cup, the year also set in motion an important transitional phase for the Indian cricket team.

Here are some of the highlights for the Indian men’s cricket team in 2024.

Historic wins over South Africa and Afghanistan

The Indian men’s cricket team kicked off the year with a historic Test win over South Africa at the Centurion to level the series 1-1. The low-scoring match, which concluded in just over four sessions, was the shortest completed Test match in cricket history.

India also became the first Asian team to beat the Proteas in a Test at Supersport Park. India also bundled out South Africa for just 55 in the first innings, which was the hosts’ lowest score in an innings since their readmission into cricket.

Later in January, India blanked Afghanistan 3-0 in a T20I series. It was the Afghanistan team’s second tour to India and the first since the one-off Test in 2018, which was their maiden outing in international red-ball cricket.

India dominated the first two matches before a history-making third and final clash in Bengaluru. After the match ended in a tie, it took India two Super Overs to finally clinch the contest.

It was the first time that an international T20 match saw a double Super Over played out.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also returned to India’s T20I setup after a close-to-two-year absence, signalling the BCCI’s plans for including the two veterans in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup.

In the lead up to the T20 World Cup in the Americas, India beat England 4-1 in a home Test series.

T20 World Cup glory

India’s 13-year wait for an ICC trophy finally ended with a stellar triumph in the T20 World Cup, hosted in the USA and the Caribbean.

The victory also saw India end a 17-year wait to reclaim the title of T20 world champions. MS Dhoni had led the side to the inaugural title back in 2007.

The Men in Blue were far from flawless in the tournament but showed brilliant character and industry to go through it unbeaten. Rohit Sharma, with his aggressive brand of batting up front, finished as the team’s highest run scorer while Arshdeep Singh was the joint-highest wicket taker in the T20 World Cup with 17 scalps.

Virat Kohli, who had a quiet tournament with the bat, also stepped up when he was needed the most and scored a brilliant 76 to dig India out of trouble in the final against South Africa.

However, it was Player of the Series Jasprit Bumrah, who stood out with some match-turning spells, including one against Pakistan in the group stage and then again in the final match against the Proteas.

Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Kuldeep Yadav also played key roles in India’s victory.

The final win at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown also ended India’s long-standing jinx in knockout stages of ICC events, the latest of which was a final heartbreak against Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup on home soil.

The victory proved to be a fitting farewell for Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, with the three veterans announcing their retirement from T20 Internationals shortly after the tournament, marking the end of an era in Indian cricket.

The 2024 T20 World Cup also brought an end to Rahul Dravid’s tenure as the head coach of the Indian men’s cricket team, with Gambhir succeeding his former teammate in the role.

Following the World Cup triumph, India beat Zimbabwe 4-1 and Sri Lanka 3-0 in two away series. However, the Men in Blue lost a three-match ODI series 2-0 to the Lankans in Sri Lanka.

At home against Bangladesh, the Men in Blue swept the Bangla Tigers 2-0 in a Test series and followed up by blanking their neighbours 3-0 in a T20I series.

Following the T20 World Cup, Suryakumar Yadav was appointed as India’s T20 captain.

Rare home Test series loss at the hands of New Zealand

A stark reality check, however, hit the Indian team in late October as New Zealand toured India for a three-match Test series.

Rohit Sharma and Co. slumped to an unexpected 3-0 whitewash against the Kiwis, ending India’s 12-year-long unbeaten streak on home soil, spanning 18 Test series. India’s last Test series loss at home was against England in 2012.

India salvaged some pride after the disastrous defeat by beating South Africa 3-1 in a T20I series while on the road.

Currently in Australia for the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Gautam Gambhir’s charges are trailing 2-1 after four of the five matches, denting India’s chances of making it to the ICC World Test Championship final.

The year 2024 has been a turning point for Indian cricket. Balancing the ongoing transition with performances on the pitch will be crucial as the Indian team braces itself for a new era.

Indian women’s cricket team in 2024 - year in review

In contrast to the men, the Indian women’s cricket team endured a disappointing year in multiteam tournaments highlighted by a group stage exit from the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in UAE.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. also lost to Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup - a tournament which the Indian eves have won a record seven out of nine times.

The team, however, did fairly well in bilateral contests.

In ODIs, India swept South Africa and the West Indies 3-0 at home and beat New Zealand 2-1. However, they ended up losing 3-0 to Australia Down Under.

The Amol Muzumdar-coached side also did fairly well in T20Is, beating Bangladesh 5-0 away and the West Indies 2-1 at home. The three-match series at home against South Africa ended in a 1-1 draw after the second rubber in Chennai was washed out.

The Indian women’s cricket team also beat South Africa in the one-off Test.

In the first innings of the match played in Chennai, India, propelled by a double century by Shafali Verma and a century by Smriti Mandhana, posted 603/6, the highest score ever recorded in an innings of a women’s Test.

Australia held the previous record with 575/9 against South Africa at the WACA a few months earlier.

On the personal front, 2024 was a standout year for Mandhana who shattered several records this year.

Mandhana scored four ODI centuries in 2024. No other batter has ever managed more than three tons in a single calendar year in women’s cricket.

She also broke South African talisman Laura Wolvaardt's record for the most runs scored in a calendar year across all formats of the game in 2024. Wolvaardt had ended the year with 1593 runs while Mandhana had 1602.

Smriti Mandhana led the scoring charts in both ODIs and T20Is for the year. Her tally of 763 in 23 matches is also the record for most runs scored by a player in women’s T20Is in a single calendar year.

Mandhana also led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 title.