New Delhi: The bygone year proved to be a treat for all the fans across the globe as plentiful of exciting cricket kept the viewers engaged. From numerous bilateral series’ to the fun-filled and action-packed Indian Premier League (IPL) and not to forget the T20 World Cup, all the events proved to be mesmeric. While we as viewers take 2024 as an eventful year for some cricketers, it didn’t prove to be as expected.
Some of the big names in global cricket failed to showcase their cricketing prowess and on-field tactics leading to a lot of criticism from fans. From Indian stars like Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma to Australian legend Steve Smith and Pakistan star player Babar Azam, several star players failed to live up to the expectations of the cricketing fans. While some of the names could not perform on the field, others succumbed to injuries.
Let’s take a look back at some of the big cricketing names who would wish to live up to the expectations in the coming year.
Virat Kohli
The year 2024 did not prove to be a good one for the ‘King’ of cricket – Virat Kohli. If this has to be called one of the worst years of one of the greatest batters in the world, that would not be an understatement. Despite performing on a few crucial occasions for India like the finale of the T20 World Cup, Kohli failed to live up to his expectations as his 2024 statistics were far away from his legendary standards. The great batter struggle was also great as he underperformed across all the formats, raising questions about his form and fitness. Kohli is one big name who would want to roar back to form in the coming year.
Rohit Sharma
Another big name who did not have a much eventful year is Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. After a good one on the field in 2023, 2024 saw Rohit’s form dip down both as an individual contributor and a skipper. Apart from just a few quality knocks, Rohit failed to showcase his batting prowess, going down on the field as a tactician as well. Known for a terrific record in the longest format of cricket, the Indian skipper struggled in the Tests as well, failing to prove his mark as the rescuer for Team India. While Rohit along with Kohli retired from the T20 format, the Indian skipper would wish to prove his mark again in the coming year.
Babar Azam
Pakistan’s star player Babar Azam, who is touted as one of the legendary batters in world cricket, faced difficulty in meeting up to the expectations in the bygone year. His startling statistics reveal the kind of struggle and bad patch the player went through in 2024. He, somewhat like his counterpart Rohit Sharma, failed to showcase his prowess as a skipper and a batter. He was among the selected few cricketers globally who faced a lot of criticism and bashing from not only the fans but the Pakistan cricketing fraternity as well. Babar would want to prove his mark yet again in the coming year with some quality performances.
Steve Smith
Australian legend and undoubtedly one of the greatest batters in world cricket, Steve Smith also failed to showcase class and demonstrate excellence on the field. A batter with absolute excellence in Test cricket, 2024 did not give much to Smith in the longest format, where he has been a ruler for over a decade now. The prolific batter all the viewers were accustomed to watching was subjected to a completely different story in the bygone year as Smith, apart from not scoring runs, looked low on confidence as well. The Australian batter would wish to reclaim his energy and form in the upcoming year.
Jofra Archer
While form was the major concern for all the above-mentioned cricket players, for Englishman Jofra Archer, the story was slightly different. Considered a world-class bowler, Archer, who was marred by injury in the year 2023, could not make the perfect comeback in the year 2024. His much-anticipated comeback did not prove to be as expected as he failed to showcase his class, proving to be a little underwhelming. His pace and accuracy, both the things he was known for, have dipped raising questions on whether the viewers will be able to watch the old Archer ever again.
The year 2024 was action-packed for all the cricketing fans but some of the big players were not able to yield desired results, as their performances dipped down. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
