The year 2022 could have been one of the most glorious years in Indian cricket history. Yet, as the year inches closer to an end, 2022 will go down as another of those years that could have been! It was a year of ups and downs for the Indian men's national cricket team. Once again, India emerged as the champions of bilateral series and a story of so close yet so far in multinational tournaments. Records were broken and new milestones were achieved as the team transitioned from the Virat Kohli era to Rohit Sharma's time. The results, however, remained the same.
As 2022 draws to an end, we reflect on India's performance in a year that saw more downs than ups.
January
India began the year in the worst possible fashion. The team came tantalisingly close to securing its first-ever Test series win in South Africa but ended up losing by a margin of 1-2. Furthermore, the misery continued in the white-ball format as the Men in Blue suffered an embarrassing 0-3 defeat against Proteas. Also, Virat Kohli stepped down as India's captain in Test cricket, drawing the curtain to an illustrious captaincy career.
February
Rohit Sharma's tenure as the captain began in a grand style. Playing white-ball home series against lesser talented Sri Lanka and West Indies sides, India registered easy victories. First, the Men in Blue defeated West Indies by a margin of 3-0 in the ODIs and then backed it up with a T20I series win by the same margin. India then schooled neighbours Sri Lanka by a margin of 3-0 in the three-match T20I series.
March
After a comprehensive victory in T20Is, India decimated Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series. India defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and 222 runs in Mohali and then followed it up with a 238-run victory in the day-night Test played at Bengaluru.
April-May
Indian Premier League (IPL) fever gripped the cricket-crazy nation in the months of April and May. Gujarat Titans, who were competing in just their maiden season, emerged victorious by downing Rajasthan Royals in the final. Gujarat's victory laid the foundation for Hardik Pandya's emergence as a strong captaincy candidate for Team India.
June
After an exhaustive two-month IPL campaign, India locked horns against South Africa in a five-match T20I series at home. With senior players rested for the series, Rishabh Pant captained India to a 2-2 draw with one match ending in No Result. Following the home series against the Proteas, India traveled to Ireland and secured a T20I series win under Hardik Pandya's captaincy.
July
India played the one-off Test match in England and squandered a great chance to win a red-ball series on English soil in 15 years. After leading 2-1 in 2021, the break seems to have done the trick for England as they came back from behind to level the series. This time, India played under the captaincy of Jasprit Bumrah as Rohit Sharma was forced to miss the match because of Covid-19.
After a disappointing loss in the one-off Test, India roared back and won the white-ball series under Rohit's captaincy. The Men in Blue first secured the ODI series by a margin of 1-2 and then followed it up with a 2-1 T20I series win.
India ended the month by whitewashing West Indies in a three-match ODI series.
August
After the ODI series triumph, India defeated the Men in Maroon by a margin of 4-1 in the five-match T20I series. Team India then traveled to Zimbabwe to play a white-ball series, Shikhar Dhawan was first named the captain but in the end moment, KL Rahul took over after recovering from his injury. India won the ODI series by a margin of 2-1.
September
India played the Asia Cup in the UAE and started their campaign in spectacular fashion by defeating Pakistan. The Men in Blue then suffered two back-to-back defeats in the Super 4 stage against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. As a result, Rohit's men failed to qualify for the final. In their final match of the campaign against Afghanistan, Virat Kohli ended his century drought by smacking his maiden T20I ton.
India then played a three-match T20I series against Australia at home and secured a 2-1 series win.
October
India squared off against South Africa in a white-ball series at home. The Men in Blue won the T20I and ODI series by a margin of 2-1 each. Later in the month, India locked horns against arch-rivals Pakistan in their T20 World Cup opener at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. On the back of Virat Kohli's all-time great innings, the Men in Blue won a nerve-jangling game.
November
In the penultimate month of the year, India failed to give over a billion fans the joy they have been craving since 2013 - an ICC trophy. Rohit's men lost suffered an unceremonious exit from the ICC tournament after losing by 10 wickets in the semi-final against England.
December
India played a three-match ODI series in Bangladesh and ended up losing by a margin of 1-2. This was India's second consecutive ODI series loss in Bangladesh. In the Test series, Bangladesh fought valiantly but under KL Rahul's captaincy, India won the series 2-0.
After the T20 World Cup, a new-look India traveled to New Zealand for a white-ball series. Under Hardik's captaincy, the Men in Blue won the T20I series 1-0 with two matches getting washed out due to rain. India lost the ODI series 0-1 with two more matches ending in No Result.
