2021 has been undoubtedly a great year for Indian Test Cricket. Infact, this has been the first instance where an Indian team ended up winning Test matches in Australia, England and South Africa in a single calendar year.
2021 started with the Australian Tour Down Under. The Test Series was evenly poised at 1-1 after 2 Tests and it was the heroics of the duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari that denied an Australian victory at Sydney.
The Historic Ground of Gabba was up next with India having a disastrous record there. But in comes the swagger of Rishabh Pant and the aggression of Mohammad Siraj and the Gabba fortress is breached for the first time since 1988. India chased down a valiant 328 in the Final Day of the Test thus securing an Indian victory in the Australian soil.
The home series against England was up next and it didn't start with a positive note with England beating India hands down in the first test. But the heroics of Axar Patel in the subsequent matches ensured India's dominance at home. The hosts ended up getting the better of England even in the ODIs and T20s that followed.
The IPL was next but the resurgence of the Covid Second Wave compelled the BCCI to postpone the IPL till the September-October window in UAE. Thus for the two successive years the IPL couldn't be held in India. The Indian leg of IPL raised a belief for the Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore as RCB seemed like the team to beat but it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni who had the last laugh as Chennai Super Kings won the title yet again.
India's Test Heroics for the last two years earned them a spot at the finals of the World Test Championship against New Zealand in Southampton. But India's hopes of winning an ICC Championship was shattered as New Zealand had the upper hand against India again in ICC Tournaments.
A dejected Indian side faced England next in England. Unike the Indian leg, England escaped from the jaws of defeat due to bad weather in the first match. A valiant KL Rahul ensured India's victory in the second test at Lord's. England levelled back the series in Headingley. However, the Oval Test match that followed scripted India's greatest Overseas victory in England owing to Rohit Sharma's maiden overseas century and Mohammad Siraj's fiery spell. A covid outbreak forced ECB to postpone the fifth match in Manchester.
From England the Indian Team reached UAE for the IPL. The IPL was a success but it somehow affected India team's physical and mental stamina. The team arrived at the T20 World Cup fatigued and lost their opening two matches against Pakistan and New Zealand thus being eliminated from the group stage. The wins against Namibia, Scotland and Afghanistan were mere formalities.
A disastrous World Cup ended Virat Kohli's reign as T20 Captain and Rohit Sharma took over. BCCI appointed Rahul Dravid as the Head Coach of the Indian Team. Rohit's first assignment was successful as India whitewashed the touring New Zealand in T20s and also won the Test Series that followed. However things started taking a bad turn when Virat Kohli was even ousted from ODI captaincy.
With things heated up between Virat Kohli and BCCI, the team reached the shores of South Africa for a 3 match Test Series where the visitors blew off the Proteas in Centurion thanks to KL Rahul's brilliant century followed by the bowling heroics.
With this the Indian Cricket Team capped off a successful year in International Cricket.