International Cricket Moments of 2016

Remember the name

It's the final of the World T20 and your team still requires 19 off the final over. You are playing your eighth T20I and your previous highest scores is 13, against Afghanistan. What do you do? Well... if your name is Carlos Brathwaite, you hit four sixes to finish the match with two balls to spare. Of course!

West Indies won a remarkable game at the iconic Eden Gardens on April 3, 2016 to lift their second World T20 crown. It completed a grand treble of titles in a little over two months, that included the Women's World T20 and the U-19 World Cup. Marlon Samuels picked up the man of the match for the second time in a WT20 final, and what followed was an outpouring of emotions replete with 'Champion' dances and angst-filled anti-establishment speeches.

While Brathwaite is likely to be remembered in T20 history for his mind-boggling feat, as will the usually soft-spoken Ian Bishop, who uttered the immortal phrase on air. 'Carlos Brathwaite - Remember the name'

The press-up sensation

From one iconic venue to another - Unarguably, the moment of the England summer came on the opening day of the England-Pakistan series at Lord's on July 14. Misbah-ul-Haq, 42-years-young, had other agendas besides winning cricket matches when he boarded that British Airways flight to England. Chief among them was a need to exorcise the demons of 2010.

The senior statesman got the enthralling series off to a perfect start with a century on the opening day and then followed it up with an unprecedented celebratory act at the home of cricket. He did a series of press-ups as a token of appreciation for the pre-tour fitness boot camp. Pakistan went on to win the Test match at Lord's and would eventually tie the series 2-2 with another win at the Oval. Misbah, who took over the reins of the side in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal, had spearheaded the ultimate turnaround. Pakistan had risen to become the top-ranked Test.

The press down feat. Dhoni, Samuels and the Rest of South Africa

The action went beyond the field in 2016 where press conferences provided just as much, if not more, drama as the on-field theatrics. MS Dhoni, India's limited-overs captain was in an unusually prickly mood during the World T20 at home. After starring in a nervy, last-gasp victory over Bangladesh in Bangalore, Dhoni snapped at a reporter for a seemingly innocuous question on net run rates. But that was nothing compared to what followed India's exit at the semi-final stage, when he invited Australian scribe Samuel Ferris on to the stage for a chat with a 'Come, let's have some fun' opening. That reaction was in response to a not-at-all incredulous question on Dhoni's future, and caught several people off-guard.

A game later, Marlon Samuels had his own moment in the press conference, when he answered questions slouched on his chair, still padded up after his tournament-winning innings, with his legs on the table - an act that drew ire from several quarters.

Later in the year, after it emerged that Faf du Plessis, South Africa's Test captain, was under scrutiny for allegedly tampering with the ball using sweet mints, the entire South African team, marshalled by Hashim Amla, walked out to the press conference in a show of solidarity for their skipper.

Brilliant Brendon signs off and then speaks outBrendon McCullum, an entertainer unlike no other, had made only 39 in the first innings of his final Test match, against Australia in Christchurch, when he slashed at a James Pattinson delivery with typical McCullum belligerence. Mitchell Marsh completed a blinder at gully but Australia's celebrations were rudely cut short by an overstepping indiscretion. McCullum went out and recorded the fastest Test match hundred (off 54 balls) but failed to prevent a series defeat at home. His ODI career finished on a high weeks later at Hamilton, as New Zealand celebrated retaining the Chappell-Hadlee series (something they would go on to lose 10 months later).

McCullum did more for New Zealand cricket as captain than most others managed through their career. But he was never more impressive than he was at his MCC Spirit of Cricket speech.

"I feel incredibly fortunate to have played the game for so long and to have had the experiences I have had. While I have earned more than a pie, a pint and a punt per day through being a professional cricketer, I have retired from first-class and international cricket without memories of aggregates, runs, wickets, catches or matches won. Rather, I treasure the memories of playing with and against so many wonderful people - as my father did before me."

Breaching the pain threshold

While Test cricket bade goodbye to a tough-nuggeted cookie in McCullum in 2016, it also balanced the equation somewhat by welcoming another in the cherubic form of Haseeb Hameed. The 19-year-old Lancashire batsman was given the ultimate opening assignment for initiation - a tour of India. But after six innings in the unforgiving climes, England were confident they had truly unearthed a player for the future.

For Hameed displayed grit and determination far beyond his tiny frame. He scored an 82 on debut and then in his third Test match, in Mohali, battled through a cracked finger with a modified bat grip to score an unbeaten 59. His efforts won him praise from the cricketing fraternity, and particularly from opposition captain Virat Kohli, who spoke to the teenager at the end of the Test match, when it was ascertained that the injury would rule him out of the next two games.Dhoni's Super RunThe stage was perfectly set. Mushfiqur Rahim had struck two consecutive boundaries to bring down the requirement to two runs off the last three balls. He had Mahmudullah for company at the other end and three more batsmen to follow. The celebration had already started, with Mushfiqur leading the way. They were on the verge of registering their maiden T20 win against India. With an inexperienced pacer in the form of Hardik Pandya handed the responsibility of taking India through, the odds were in favour of Bangladesh. However, poor shot selection and execution led to two wickets falling in as many balls, with both Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah back in the hut. The ultimate drama, nonetheless, transpired in the final ball. Just before that Ashish Nehra, Bumrah and MS Dhoni were involved in a long chat. Once that was done, all-rounder Shuvagata Hom took the strike with Mustafizur Rahman at the other end. Dhoni, took off his right glove and prepared himself for the final delivery. As it turned out, Pandya bowled outside the offstump, Hom missed the slog, Dhoni collected the ball and sprinted his way to towards the stumps, whipped off the bails and beat Mustafizur in the race. Three wickets in three balls and India sealed the thriller by one run.

The giant killing act

Bangladesh's plea for more Test matches against top teams had been falling on deaf ears for some time. So they decided to make a more definitive statement on the field in the two games they had against England. They came within 22 runs of doing so in Chittagong but eventually put down their marker on a steamy afternoon in Dhaka with a raucous Shere Bangla Stadium for company.

The architect of the incredible victory was then little-known off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz. The defining moment arrived in the final session on Day 3 when Steven Finn, flanked on his leg side by three close fielders, missed a flick off young Hasan and was adjudged out LBW.

Finn stood bemused wondering why he couldn't review the decision (England had exhausted their referrals). Bangladesh had no time then to sympathise with Finn. This was their moment - they'd beaten England in a Test for the first time and they had to make sure that the celebrations were befitting the achievement.

The banter and the runs

2016 will go down as the year of Virat Kohli. Few batsman have enjoyed the kind of consistency in a calendar years as the Indian Test captain did this year. In more ways than one, the third ODI of the series against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground really set the ball rolling. Kohli walked into the contest having mysteriously failed to convert two half-centuries into big scores. Then he met a familiar adversary in James Faulkner. In the 35th over of India's innings, Faulkner packaged a sledge in a smile in a bid to unsettle the batsman. Kohli was having none of it. "I've smashed you enough in my life ... just go and bowl," he told the Australian all-rounder, advising him against wasting time. He scored 117 in that game, albeit in a losing cause but proceeded to carry that unwavering focus throughout the year, shattering a slew of records in the process.

Cricket goes to America

In a year in which BCCI voted against the two-tier Test system, a proposal that could have allowed the game to take baby steps into becoming a truly global sport, the honchos of the richest board sought to leverage the presence of the Asian expatriate community in USA to promote their T20 cricket via a hastily-arranged two-match series versus the defending World T20 champions - West Indies.

MS Dhoni, who flew half the way across the earth, to play one completed game of cricket, found out that his powers didn't work the way they did in other places. After a blistering KL Rahul century had paved the way for a world-record chase, Dhoni floundered with the finishing touches, falling to former CSK teammate Dwayne Bravo with two to get off the final delivery. That no redemption was possible because of a washed-out second game meant the lasting impression of the USA experiment was that of a disgruntled Dhoni trudging off the Lauderhill ground with the West Indies players resorting to another Champion gig.

Du Plessis kisses, Bavuma flies as South Africa soar

South Africa's tour of Australia in early November began amidst much intrigue. Nobody knew what to expect - Steve Smith's side had just been routed 0-3 by Sri Lanka. South Africa had handed leadership duties to Faf du Plessis after AB de Villiers was ruled out. And 13 overs into his contribution in the series opener in Perth, Dale Steyn was escorted to another lengthy spell on the sidelines.

And then the visitors found new avenues. Kagiso Rabada announced his presence with a searing inswinger that knocked back Usman Khawaja's stumps even before the southpaw had brought his bat down. He went on to take five second innings wickets, bowling South Africa to a major victory. As a token of appreciation for his fifer, young Rabada received a peck on his cheek from the captain as South Africa set the tone for their third consecutive series win Down Under.

But before Rabada's heroics with the ball in the second innings came a moment of brilliance that would live long. The sight of an airborne Temba Bavuma hitting the stumps down at the non-striker's end to dismiss David Warner, while being parallel to the ground will be etched in the minds of most onlookers.

Your moment of 2016?

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