RISE & RISE OF INDIAN CRICKET

There have been few years in past which saw as much success for India’s cricket team as 2017. Here are some highlights

INDIAN TEAM: On a juggernaut

• The Indian team enjoyed a golden run of form this year across formats
• 9 India equalled the record for most successive Test series wins by beating Sri lanka at home and registering their ninth successive series victory in the longest format
• 8 India are on a run of eight successive ODI series victories - the most on a trot by an Indian team
• At home, India defeated Australia and Sri lanka in Test series while also beating Bangladesh in a one-off Test
• In ODI's, the Indian team vanquished England, Australia, New Zealand and Sri lanka at home while winning against West Indies, Zimbabwe and Sri lanka away
• The Indian team accomplished the unparalled feat of whitewashing the host team, in this case Sri lanka, across all three formats on their tour
• India retained the No 1 Test ranking throughout the year
• The only blip in 2017 was the loss to Pakistan in the Final of the Champions Trophy                                                                                                       Kohli-Shastri: DAWN OF A NEW ERA
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•  2017 witnessed the passing of the baton in Indian cricket as Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down as the India captain in limited overs format and was succeeded by Virat Kohli
•  Dhoni was also axed as the captain of the Pune Super Giants IPl team and replaced by Steve Smith
• The year also saw Anil Kumble stepping down as the Head coach of the Indian team citing differences with the captain Virat Kohli
• Reports of rift between the captain and the coach came out during the Champions Trophy but were initially rubbished by Kohli
• Ravi Shastri — the choice of Virat Kohli — was appointed as the coach
• Kohli had wanted Shastri, who had been the team manager earlier, appointed as coach in 2016 itself and finally got his wish
• Both have talked about having same approach and philosophy 

RAVUICHANDRAN ASHWIN: Climbing  New Heights

• Ravichandran Ashwin became the quickest bowler to 300 wickets in Test cricket by reaching the milestone in his 54th match surpassing Dennis lillee who got to the mark in his 56th game
• Rohit Sharma:  Breaking Barriers
• Scored his third ODI double hundred. No other player has more than one
• Equalled the world record for fastest T20I hundred by reaching the three-figure mark in just 35 balls against Sri lanka
• Became India's 24th ODI captain in absence of Virat Kohli and won his maiden series in charge

Ajinkya Rahane: leadership Quality

• V While not having as successful a year with the bat as he did in the past, he took charge of the Indian team for the decider fourth Test against Australia in Dharamsala and became India's 33rd Test captain
• V Was praised for his leadership and led the side to win in the Test        
• V later in the year, also became India's 23rd ODI captain while filling in for Virat Kohli in Zimbabwe

Mumbai Indians: TRIPlE TREAT

• V Mumbai Indians earned their third IPl title in the league's tenth season
• V The Final was a thrilling encounter that went right down to the last ball and Mumbai won with slender-most margin of one run

VIRAT KOHlI: Unstoppable

• V Scored three double hundreds in 2017 — which he did in 2016 also — becoming the first player in the history of the game to accomplish that twice in a calendar year
• V Now has 32 ODI tons — putting him second in the list of players with most ODI centuries behind Sachin Tendulkar with 49
• V Set a new record for most double hundreds by a captain (6)
• V Equalled the record for most double hundreds by an Indian — 6 — by drawing level with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag
• V Reached 9000-run mark in ODI's — fastest to it — and 5000-run mark in Tests
• V Remains unbeaten as a captain in bilateral series and lost just one Test in 2017

Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar: ODI specialists

• V After years of searching, India has a seam bowling attack that seems to excel in the art of ODI bowling
• V Jaspreet Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar showed great skill and tactical nous when they bowled for India in the shorter formats, especially in the death overs
• V Bumrah, with his variations and Bhuvneshwar, with his increased pace have been lethal
• Chahal & Kuldeep:  New spin twins
• V India decided to remove Ashwin and Jadeja from their ODI plans in the second half of the year and have Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav as their two-pronged wrist spin attack in the 50-over format
• V The duo achieved great success and bamboozled batsmen with their variations and guile