Year-Ender 2019 | From England’s World Cup win to ICC Test Championship, a look at unforgettable cricketing moments

New Delhi | Jagran Sports Desk: The year 2019 was an incredible year for cricket. We witnessed some of nail-biting series which left the fans stupefied. From India winning a Test series in Australia to England’s maiden World Cup victory, here’s a look at some of the major incidents in cricket in 2019.      

England winning World Cup 2019

The World Cup 2019 was surely the biggest event of the year. It was hosted in England and Wales with  ten participant teams. As many as 2.6 billion people around the world watched the World Cup, making it the most-watched cricket competition as of 2019.

After six weeks of the round-robin matches, England and New Zealand reached the finals of the tournament, which was played at Lords in London. The finals, however, was no less than a thriller. It saw the first Super Over in an ODI as the match ended in a tie after both teams scored 241 runs each. However, the Super Over also ended in a tie but England won the World Cup for the first time by the boundary countback rule. The boundary countback rule was later scrapped by the ICC. With this, England won their maiden World Cup title and became the third side, after India and Australia, to lift the World Cup at home.

Indian winning series in Australia

Fans across India were waiting for this moment for many years. The closest that the Indian team went to winning a series in Australia was in 2003-04 but the series ended in a draw. However, in 2019, under the leadership of Virat Kohli, the Indian team was finally able to win a series in Australia. The Men in Blue defeated the Kangaroos by 2-1 in their own backyard. Cheteshwar Pujara (521 runs) and Jasprit Bumrah (21 wickets) played a huge role in the victory of the Indian team.

However, one might argue that the Australian side was weak due to the absence of David Warner and Steve Smith, but no one can question the fact that the Indian team outplayed Australia in all the three forms of the game. Moreover, beating Australia in Australia is always a challenge and no one can take the credit from the Indian team as they outplayed Australia in the series.

ICC Test Championship

Fans were worried about the future of Test cricket but 2019 brought with it a hope that Test cricket is still alive, as the ICC Test Championship is finally underway. Starting on August 1, 2019, the first Test was that of the 2019 Ashes series. The ICC Test Championship comes nearly a decade after the top cricketing body first approved the idea for a World Test Championship in 2010, and following two canceled attempts to hold the inaugural competition in 2013 and 2017.

It will be played over two years and each team will play six other opponents, three series at home and three away. The series will consist of two to five Test matches. All participants will play the same number of series and at the end of the league stage the top two teams will play a final in England in June 2021.

As of now, the Indian team is at the top of the league table with 360 points, followed by Australia with 176 points. The next two on the list are New Zealand and Sri Lanka with 60 points each.

Ashes 2019

The 2019 Ashes series held in England, was an exciting series for the fans across the world. The series ended in a draw with each side winning two matches. The Australian team retained the Ashes after winning the fourth Test, with England leveling the series 2–2 in the final test, resulting in the first drawn Ashes series since 1972.

This was also for the first time in 18 years when Australia was able to retain the Ashes in England. Steve Smith, who returned to the Test – following his one-year ban, played a huge role in the success of the team. The former Australian skipper scored a record 774 runs in the series.

The English side also played some good cricket. Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer gave some brilliant performances. Apart from them, Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were also seen shining on the ground.

The cricketing experts were also impressed with the series and called it one of the best Ashes series ever.

Return of Steve Smith and David Warner

Steve Smith and David Warner are two legends in modern day cricket. The two, however, were banned by Cricket Australia for their alleged involvement in the ball tampering scandal in 2018 in South Africa. With the absence of the duo in the batting line-up, the Australian team predictably struggled against all the opponents in all the formats in all the conditions.

However, with the return of the duo in 2019, the Australians once again started dominating the cricketing field. David Warner and Steve Smith led the Australian batting line-up and helped their side win many important matches. From reaching the 2019 World Cup semi-finals to retaining the Ashes in England for the first time in 18 years, the duo played a huge role in Australia’s success.

Retirement of Yuvraj Singh

This was an emotional moment for many cricket fans around the world. The hero for India in the 2011 World Cup, Yuvraj Singh, announced his retirement from international cricket.

“After 25 years, I have decided to move on. Cricket has given me everything and is the reason why I stand here today. I was extremely lucky to play 400 games for India. I could have never imagined it when I first started playing cricket,” said the 37-year-old who played 40 Tests, 304 ODIs and 58 T20Is for India.

Considered as one of India’s greatest limited overs cricketers, Yuvraj scored 1900 runs in the longest format and 8701 in the ODIs. While announcing his retirement, Yuvraj also listed the 2011 World Cup triumph, getting six sixes in an over against England in the 2007 World T20 and his first Test hundred, against Pakistan in Lahore in 2004, as the three most special moments of his career.

First Day/Night Test in India

This was indeed a historic moment in the history of Indian cricket. Fans across the country were waiting for this moment and finally BCCI President Sourav Ganguly confirmed that the first day/night Test in India will be played against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

“It's a good development. Test cricket needs this push. Me and my team were bent on it and thanks to Virat (Kohli) also, he agreed,” Ganguly had said earlier.

Then on November 22, the first Pink Ball Test was played between India and Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens. India, however, won the match comprehensively beating the Tigers by an innings and 46 runs.