Indian Cricket in 2019: Kohli 'The King' on field, Ganguly 'The Maharaj' off it
New Delhi: Virat Kohli and Indian cricket remained an enduring love story and Sourav Ganguly held out promise for a path-breaking reign off the field in a year during which the country finally embraced Pink Ball Tests.
There were the heartbreaks, the biggest one being a World Cup semifinal exit, and not to forget the anxious wait on what Mahendra Singh Dhoni might do next after being on a sabbatical for half the year. In a World Cup that was decided by boundary count-back, India were in for quite a bit of pain when New Zealand knocked them out in the semifinals.
The Kiwis then had to bear a lot of agony of their own when England became champions for a better boundary count after regulation as well as super over scores ended tied.
The very affable Kane Williamson's painfully blank expression after that crushing loss made for the perhaps most poignant picture of the year.
In the neighbouring Australia, Steve Smith and David Warner began thei redemption in earnest after hitting nadir in 2018 due to the ball-tampering scandal.
Smith had a memorable Ashes campaign which also presented world cricket with a potential superstar in the young Marnus Labuschagne.
South African cricket lost most of its revered performers during an year of decline with the only consolation being a win against England at the fag end.
Test cricket was back in Pakistan with the Sri Lankan Test squad touring for the first time since the 2009 terror attacks but the response was at best lukewarm.
It was also a year when Glenn Maxwell put the spotlight on the mental stress that international cricketers endure. He took a break to deal with his mental health issues and found support from all quarters.
Kohli was among those who threw their weight behind Maxwell and revealed that one time in his own life when he battled "end of the world" thoughts. The period being a rare slump in form during the England tour of 2014.
Maxwell since then has recovered and has also clinched a cool million-dollar IPL deal with Kings XI Punjab.
