Indian Cricket in 2022: A Forgettable Year Saga

It began with a Test series loss in South Africa, which resulted in a dejected Virat Kohli stepping down as captain of the longest format. After being sacked as ODI captain, his relationship with the BCCI’s top brass was strained, and he wanted to leave on his own terms.
It happened in January, and as the year comes to a close, Kohli’s illustrious heir Rohit Sharma is also removed as national T20 captain. Hardik Pandya emerged as the new leader of the national T20 team, as Rohit paid the price for another semi-final exit in the T20 World Cup after defeat against England.
In fact, it is the England team that is changing the grammar of cricket across formats with an amazingly aggressive approach known as ‘Bazball,’ a name that is set to become a cult status in the coming years alongside the golden generation of English players led by Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler.
They played cricket in such a fun way that the Indian team’s ideas cupboard looked empty in comparison. The Indian team performed admirably in bilateral competition but fell short in global competition. Nobody knows when the trend will change.
Because some of the bilateral series lacked context, Virat Kohli’s 71st and 72nd international hundreds in dead rubbers against Afghanistan (T20) and Bangladesh (ODI) didn’t carry much weight. While Kohli’s straight six off Haris Rauf and his 82-run knock will live on as poetic nostalgia, India’s senior batters, including skipper Rohit and KL Rahul, stuck out like a sore thumb during the T20 World Cup.
It was also noted that head coach Rahul Dravid’s decision-making left much to be desired. Dravid could never convince anyone that he is a shrewd tactician, from rushing a half-fit Jasprit Bumrah for a T20 series against Australia that aggravated his lower-back stress fracture, to not considering using wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal at the global event and dropping a performer like left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav from a Test after a match-winning performance.
In the case of Rohit, his slump in batting form became an issue, despite the fact that he was the only one of the top three who had attempted to change his game to meet the demands of modern-day white-ball cricket. KL Rahul was the most disappointing of the lot, and by the end of the year, it was clear that the Chetan Sharma-led panel’s desire to see a potential national leader in him had come to a halt, as he lost his T20 vice captaincy to Suryakumar Yadav and his ODI deputy’s role to Hardik Pandya.
Positive signs included Shreyas Iyer’s consistent run in Tests and ODIs, Rishabh Pant emerging as the current team’s most prolific Test match game changer, and Jammu’s tearaway quick Umran Malik entering collective conscience.
Looking ahead, Shubman Gill realising his full potential and Ishan Kishan displaying his incredible talent were both encouraging signs. Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha, two workmanlike players who had served the national team with distinction before being told that their time is up and Indian cricket is moving on, also ended their international careers this year.
Shikhar Dhawan, a prolific ODI player, has also been shown the exit door. At 37, another comeback appears unlikely. Chetan Sharma’s selection committee was fired by the BCCI after the team’s poor performance in the T20 World Cup.
If Chetan is not reappointed as chairman in 2023, he may be seen working as a selector, possibly under a well-known seamer from Karnataka. Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, who set a standard in women’s cricket and earned respect for the national team on the international stage, ended their respective illustrious careers.
While there are a number of batters who could fill Mithali’s void, if the team’s performance under Harmanpreet Kaur is any indication, finding Jhulan’s replacement will be difficult. Except for Renuka Singh Thakur, none of the other players appear to be ready for international cricket, as evidenced by Shikha Pandey’s return to international cricket after a 15-month absence.
The departure of Ramesh Powar, once again due to disagreements with the team’s star senior player, left a bitter taste in the mouth. At the administrative level, former captain Sourav Ganguly’s tenure as President of the BCCI ended in acrimony, despite the Supreme Court granting him an extension.
According to BCCI insiders, the new CEO, Roger Binny, has remained more of a quiet contributor in his two months in office.
In 2023, the 1983 World Cup hero may need to make more tangible off-field contributions so that the class of 2023 can sing It’s Coming Home in unison.