2024 saw some of the most competitive and captivating cricket being played on the field. While new rivalries developed, the older ones continued to prosper with a new-found intensity. On one side, game’s greats retired, a new generation is also slowly taking shape. This year saw India end their 11-year-long ICC title drought and secure the T20 World Cup title win. England, New Zealand and Australia also registered some important wins throughout the year. All this while, some of the world’s best cricketers enthralled the crowds, became thorn in the eyes of their rivals and broke several records on the way to victory.

Here are the best cricketers of 2024:

Joe Root (England)

Largely a one-format player nowadays, Root was in monstrous form in Tests this year, leading the run-charts with 1,556 runs at an average of 55.57 and a strike rate of over 63 in 17 matches, with six tons and five fifties in 31 innings and best score of 262.

Root broke two massive Test records this year, becoming England’s highest century-maker (36) and Test run-getter (12,972 runs), going past legendary Alastair Cook and touching the 20,000 run mark in international cricket, being the first England player to do so.

Also, he is chasing Sachin Tendulkar’s record of highest Test runs (15,921) and is the fifth-highest run-getter this year.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (India)

In 2024, Jaiswal scored 1,478 runs in 15 matches at an average of 54.74, with three centuries (two double tons) and 11 fifties in 29 innings, with the best score of 214. His two double centuries against England in the home series earlier this year, which saw him score 712 runs in five matches was a huge standout. However, his adaptation to Australian conditions is just as stunning, having scored 359 runs in eight innings at an average of 51.50, with a masterclass 161 at Perth and fighting knocks of 82 and 84 at Melbourne being standouts.

Jaiswal’s run tally is the highest by an Indian opener during a calendar year and his 36 sixes during this year is also a world record, having beaten legends Virender Sehwag and Brendon McCullum in these aspects respectively. His only low was a mixed IPL 2024 season, with 435 runs at an average of 31 with just one century and fifty in 15 innings.

Including his 293 runs in eight T20Is at an average of 41.85 and two fifties, Jaiswal top-scored for India in international cricket this year and was overall second, with 1,771 runs in 23 matches and 37 innings at an average of 52.08, with three tons and 11 fifties.

Jasprit Bumrah (India)

Mohammed Siraj’s post-match interview after T20 WC final saying ‘I only believe on Jassi bhai, game changer player he is’ in his broken English summarises the country’s love affair with the pace spearhead and how important he was to their fortunes. Be it his 19 wickets during England’s home series on largely unhelpful surfaces at an average of 16.89 in four matches, his ‘Player of the Tournament’ winning T20 WC title-capturing performance with 15 crucial scalps at an average of 8.26 or his workhorse, once-in-a-generation run in ongoing BGT with 30 wickets in four matches at an average of 12.83 and three five-wicket hauls, Bumrah is country’s newest and rightfully deserving cricketing darling, having captured the minds and hearts of a batting-obsessed nation and making fast bowling, yorkers and swing, cool among masses.

Bumrah is the leading-wicket-taker in international cricket this year, with 86 wickets in 21 matches at an average of 13.76, with four four-wicket hauls and five five-wicket hauls and best figures of 6/45. Also in a disappointing IPL 2024 for five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI), he topped the charts with 20 scalps in 13 matches at an average of 16.80 and one fifer.

Travis Head (India)

Nominated for the ICC Cricketer of the Year award, Head continued his all-format dominance this year. On more than one occasion, he troubled the Indian cricket team and England, displaying a preference for bullying the blue-coloured teams. While they often got the better of him sometimes, he won the larger battle in favour of his team.

He was Australia’s top run-getter this year, scoring 1,399 runs in 29 matches and 35 innings at an average of 42.39. He scored four centuries and five fifties, with best score of 154*.

In nine Tests, he made 608 runs in 15 innings at an average of 40.53, with three centuries and a fifty, with best score of 152. His centuries against India at Adelaide and Brisbane stand out the most. In five ODIs, he made 252 runs at an average of 63.00, with a century and best score of 154* against arch-rivals England.

Travis had an incredible year in T20Is, scoring 539 runs in 15 innings at an average of 38.50, with a strike rate of 178.04 and four half-centuries. His best score was 80. He became the top-ranked T20I batter and also emerged as the third-highest run-getter in the T20 WC with 255 runs at an average of 42.50, the strike rate of 158.38, with two half-centuries and the best knock of 76 against India.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) was where Head made a game-changing impact, breaking numerous batting records with opening partner Abhishek Sharma for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He emerged as the fourth-highest run-getter there with 567 runs in 15 matches at an average of 40.50, with a strike rate of 191.55, a century and four fifties.

Shreyas Iyer (India)

Forced out of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) due to alleged lack of red-ball cricket commitment and dedication, Iyer had a fairytale ending to 2024, winning four trophies, including 42nd Ranji Trophy title, Irani Cup, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy with Mumbai and IPL 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), with latter two as captain.

Not only Iyer thrived as captain, he was also in top form as a batter across all formats, except for a brief dry run with India in England Tests and Sri Lanka ODIs. In 44 matches across all formats, Iyer made 1,841 runs at an average of 43.83, with four centuries and seven fifties and the best score of 233. Also, he secured a deal of Rs 26.75 crores with Punjab Kings (PBKS), becoming the second-most expensive player in the league.

Gus Atkinson (England)

Though Gus Atkinson got some white-ball experience last year last year ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup in India, the young pacer truly arrived this year when he was included in the West Indies series.

The home series against West Indies was the farewell series for legendary James Anderson, who retired after the first Test at Lords’ bringing his career to full circle. In a passing of touch performance, Atkinson took the baton from the 42-year-old, taking 12 wickets in his debut Test, taking not one, but two five-wicket hauls in a Test innings at Lord’s, a ten-wicket match haul. Later, during the Sri Lanka series, he scored an attacking 118 in 115 balls, with 14 fours and four sixes, becoming the part of elite company to take a five-wicket haul, ten-wicket haul and a century at Lord’s.

Later, during the New Zealand series away from home, a hat-trick made him the fastest player to secure a five-wicket haul, ten-fer, century and hat-trick in Tests in just 10 Tests.

Now in 11 Tests this year, Atkinson took 52 wickets at an average of 22.15, with best figures of 7/45. He secured three five-wicket hauls and one ten-fer. With the bat, he has made 352 runs in 16 innings, averaging 23.46, with a century to his name. His strike rate is 79.10.

Matt Henry (New Zealand)

The Kiwi pacer was a workhorse this year for his side, taking 48 scalps in nine Tests at an average of 18.58, with four five-wicket hauls and best figures of 7/67 in an innings. He was his side’s leading Test wicket-taker and overall fourth. His standout spell was 5/15 against India at Bengaluru to skittle them out for just 46, setting the tone for a landmark series win. His best figures of 7/67 came against the Aussies, though in a losing cause.

In 16 matches this year, including 11 wickets in seven T20Is, Henry took 59 wickets in 16 matches averaging 18.98, with three five-wicket hauls. He was Kiwis’ highest wicket-taker this year and overall fourth.

Arshdeep Singh (India)

The young left-arm pacer continues to do wonders for India in the T20I format, topping their wicket-charts with 36 scalps in 18 matches at an average of 13.50 and best figures of 4/9. This also included a brilliant performance in India’s T20 WC campaign, taking joint-highest wickets with 17 scalps at an average of 12.64 and best figures of 4/9. Including two ODI scalps in two matches, he took 38 scalps in 20 matches at an average of 15.55.

Ravindra Jadeja (India)

Jadeja as an all-rounder can make it to any side as a specialist batter or bowler and he proves this point even in his mid 30s. In 20 international matches this year, he has made 562 runs at an average of 26.76, with a century and three fifties in 23 innings. His best score is 112.

In 20 international matches, he also took 49 wickets at an average of 25.95, with three five-wicket hauls and a 10-wicket haul, with best figures of 5/41.

He also retired from T20Is after capturing the T20 WC with India, scoring 35 runs in five innings and getting just one wicket in eight matches.

Shreyas Iyer continued with his red-hot form, smashing a stroke-filled 233 to lead Mumbai to a massive 602 for four declared in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group A match against Odisha in Mumbai on Thursday. Iyer’s second consecutive ton in Ranji Trophy also turned out to be his highest score in first-class cricket as the right-hander hammered Odisha all around the park at a strike rate of nearly 103. Iyer’s knock was well complimented by comeback man Siddhesh Lad’s 169 not out, who hit 17 fours in his 337-ball innings.

Mumbai added another 217 runs to their overnight score of 385 for three with Iyer and Lad putting on an overall 354 runs for the fourth wicket – now a record for the 42-time winners in the Ranji Trophy.

Home spinners Shams Mulani (2/52) and Himanshu Singh (2/22) then provided crucial breakthroughs to reduce the visitors to 146 for five.

Odisha are still trailing by another 456 runs in the first essay and have Sandeep Pattanaik (73 not out) and Debabrata Pradhan (7) at the crease.

Shardul Thakur provided an early breakthrough when he cleaned up the Odisha opener Swastik Samal for a seven-ball duck.

Odisha recovered strongly as Anurag Sarangi and Pattanaik put on 107 for the second wicket until the former was cleaned up by lanky spinner Himanshu Singh.

Soon after, Mulani had Odisha skipper Govinda Poddar (0) caught behind and Himanshu had Biplab Samantaray (0) caught by Ajinkya Rahane at first slip.

In Pune, Maharashtra slipped to 185 all-out against Services’ 293 in the first innings as the visitors took a big 108-run lead in the first innings at the MCA Stadium.

Services were 15/0 in second essay, with an overall lead of 123 runs.

After Hitesh Walunj’s five for 103 helped Maharashtra restrict Services, Amit Shukla returned 7/65 as the hosts were bowled out for 185 despite skipper Ankit Bawane’s 73.

At Shillong, visitors Jammu and Kashmir were 16 for one and needed another 59 runs to win after hosts Meghalaya folded for another low score of 195 in the second innings, setting a target of 75 to win.

J&K, who had shot Meghalaya out for a mere 73 in the first innings, made 194 in reply to take a 121-run lead.

At Agartala, hosts Tripura were placed strongly at 192 for one in reply to Baroda’s 235 in the first innings.

Bikram Kumar Das (97) fell short of his century but Jiwanjot Singh (58 not out) and Tejasvi Jaiswal (34 not out) took them to 192 for one, trailing by another 43 runs.

Shorey’s hundred puts Vidarbha in command against Himachal

Opener Dhruv Shorey compiled a neat century as former champions Vidarbha responded strongly to reach 283 for two at stumps after bowling out Himachal Pradesh for 307 on day two of their Ranji Trophy match in Nagpur on Thursday.

Shorey, who switched to Vidarbha ahead of the 2023-24 season after playing for 10 years for his native state Delhi, led the way for Vidarbha and was batting on 108 at close of play.

Karun Nair, who parted ways with Karnataka to join Vidarbha last season, was unbeaten on 76.

The duo of Shorey and Nair added 142 runs for the third wicket to put Vidarbha in a commanding position as they now trail Himachal by just 24 runs.

Vidarbha began on a solid note with Shorey and Atharva Taide (33) putting on 50 runs for before Mukul Negi gave Himachal their first breakthrough by having the latter trapped in front of the wicket.

Shorey found an able ally in Danish Malewar as the two added 91 runs for the second wicket to lay a strong foundation for Vidarbha.

Medium pacer Vaibhav Arora brought some cheer for Himachal as he dismissed Malewar for a 72-ball 59, during which the batter struck 10 boundaries.

However, Himachal’s joy was short-lived as Shorey and Nair handled the Himachal bowlers without much difficulty to lift their team to a position of strength by the end of day’s play.

Shorey, who faced 192 balls for his knock, hit only six fours and ran a lot of singles and twos during his stay in the middle.

Malewar on the other hand, found the fence 10 times during his 72-ball knock. Shorey’s two partnerships, with Nair and Malewar, went a long way in helping Vidarbha take the upper hand in the Elite Group B game.

Earlier, resuming the day on 263 for six, Himachal added 44 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out in their first innings.

Overnight batting on 47, captain Rishi Dhawan was the chief contributor with the bat for Himachal as he top-scored with a 73-run knock that came off 135 balls.

Mukul Negi, the other overnight batter, fell for 38 while the last three men could not contribute anything with the bat for Himachal Pradesh.

Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey was the most successful bowler for Vidarbha, returning figures of 5/71 in 34 overs, while there were two wickets apiece for Praful Hinge (2/57) and Akshay Wakhare (2/42).

Group C: Manohar”s unbeaten fifty keeps Karnataka afloat against Bengal

Abhinav Manohar made a determined unbeaten fifty to rescue Karnataka after a top-order collapse, taking the hosts to 155 for five against Bengal after second day’s play of their Ranji Trophy Group C match in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Manohar made 50 off 73 balls (6×4, 1×6) and added 58 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket stand with Shreyas Gopal (23 batting) as Karnataka recovered from a wobbly 97 for five.

Karnataka still trail by 146 runs.

Bengal, resuming from overnight 249 for five, could not progress much and got bowled out for 301.

Pacer Vasuki Koushik (5/38) and leg-spinner Shreyas (3/87) combined to pluck the remaining five Bengal wickets for 52 runs.

But that joy was short-lived as Bengal bowlers Suraj Sindhu Jaiswal (2/53) and R Vivek (2/44) rocked the Karnataka top-order with regular strikes.

In fact, the home side lost their most experienced batters – captain Mayank Agarwal (17) and Manish Pandey (0) – in the space of six balls.

Agarwal was cleaned up by Jaiswal while Pandey’s two-ball innings was snapped by Vivek.

However, Karnataka found some fight through Manohar, a white ball specialist, and Shreyas, who returned to the state side after spending last season with Kerala, as they negated 18 overs to keep their side afloat.

Venky Mysore, the CEO of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), admitted that it was a very challenging task for them to trim the retentions down to six ahead of IPL 2025 mega auction after winning the previous season. KKR have made their top retention pick in middle-order batter Rinku Singh (INR 13 crore) followed by Andre Russell (INR 12 crore), Sunil Narine (INR 12 crore), Varun Chakaravarthy (INR 12 crore), and uncapped duo of Harshit Rana (INR 4 crore), and Ramandeep Singh (INR 4 crore).

It meant KKR had to let go of their title-winning skipper Shreyas Iyer, Mitchell Starc, Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana. “The no brainers would have been maybe 10 or 11 players, but trying to trim that down to six was very challenging, because it’s about the players that you have built an equation with and who have done fantastic for KKR.

“Sunil has been with us for 12 years while Andre has been with us for 10 years. Varun has been associated with KKR for a long time, since 2019 and Rinku as well has been with for a significant amount of time, since 2018. Harshit has been with the team for three years while Ramandeep came in last year and really made a big impact.”

“So I think it’s a good combination. And at the same time, some of the thinking around how you want to handle the auction also came into play, but we thought that this was a really good combination for us. And, obviously leaving out some of the players is never easy,” said Mysore in a statement issued by the franchise.

Process of retention

He also talked about the process of conversations they had with the players before finalising their retention picks. “First and foremost, I think our approach has always been to maintain transparency and have proper conversations with everyone. I’ve not really had conversations with the six we have retained, but I have engaged in conversations with the ones we couldn’t retain.”

“But obviously I am aware of some of the narratives that have been going around. It’s sufficient to say that, we always engage in talks with everyone and most people understand our position. In almost all cases, everyone asks if there is a way we can retain them, but they also understand why we can’t, and hopefully, somewhere our paths will cross again.”

“But also, something to be kept in mind is that retention is not a one way street. It is always something that has to be mutually agreed upon. So, sometimes mutual agreements happen but we also have to be respectful of the fact that a player may choose to go the other way, And, it’s a little tough when that situation happens, but that happens.”

With KKR having a purse of INR 51 crore, Mysore also talked how the mega auction would be a different scenario for them. “The nature of the rules this year is that it will be challenging for everyone in different ways. In our case, after retaining 6 players we go into the auction with 51 crores and no RTMs (Right-To-Match Card).”

“But then there may be some other team who retains none or very few, and they come in with more money. But their challenge is to build a squad, a full squad. Our challenge will be to complete our squad, so each one will come with their own strategies, and everyone is very experienced. I’ve been part of 14 auctions with this being the 15th one, but it never ceases to surprise me.”

“So all we can do is say that this is what we have decided, this is the money that we are going in with and this is the kind of squad that we want to build and work very hard to prepare. I know that with the think tank and the support from the owners we will come up with a good plan, and we’ll work through it.”

He signed off by throwing light on the involvement of support staff, especially after Gautam Gambhir, Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate left to join the Indian team. “They have been involved significantly as this is a collective thought process and collective decisions. I think DJ has been terrific, very engaged, as has Chandu (Chandrakant Pandit), along with Bharathi Arun, Carl Crowe and our analyst Nathan Leamon.”

“The think tank has been very engaged and very strong in the discussions. I’ve been very fortunate that there’s a group there that knows exactly what they’re doing, lots of experience there and looking back at what has worked for us and how we continue to maintain that continuity, there will be change, but there’s also continuity. So, let’s hope that we can, we can do a good job with the auction as well.”

File photo of Shreyas Iyer (left) and Ishan Kishan.© AFP