“Juxtaposition”: India has played the longest T20I and the shortest Test match ever, only 17 days into 2024

Indian cricket fans have been rewarded to some spectacular outcomes and matchups that have captured the nation’s attention only a month into the new year. The Indian fans have seen some incredible moments of cricket action, such as a Test that ended before the end of Day 2 and a T20I that went past the day it began, following the heartbreak of the ODI World Cup and what appeared to be something that would haunt the Indian psyche for a while to come at the very least.

Quickie from Newlands:

At the Newlands Stadium, Team India began 2024 with a series-leveling victory over South Africa that will go down in history for the duration of its runtime—or lack thereof.

India started the year with a 7-wicket victory against the South Africans at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town. This came after they had lost the boxing day Test against the Proteas, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead.

The match was remarkable for very little time the sides spent on the field, in addition to the fact that it was Protea Test icon Dean Elgar’s last appearance in whites.

Having won the coin toss, South Africa, headed by the retiring Elgar on his last bow, chose to bat first. However, they had no idea that Indian bowler Mohammed Siraj would wreck havoc on the Protea batting order, bowling them out for a meager 55 runs.

Jasprit Bumrah and Mukesh Kumar, who each removed two batsmen, congratulated Siraj, who claimed six Protea wickets.

By the conclusion of the first day of play, India had responded with a total of 153, taking a 98-run advantage over the hosts. In the first innings, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill each scored 39 and 36 runs, while Virat Kohli top-scored for the visitors with 46 runs.

The way the Indian tail-enders gave in to South African bowling was very shocking; in eighteen deliveries, the visitors lost six wickets.

In an effort to trim down the deficit, South Africa started their second innings with a robust century from Aiden Markram, and by the conclusion of the 37th over, the Indian pacers had once again performed their magic, bowling out the whole lineup. South Africa finished with a total of 176 runs.

Before you knew it, India had wrapped up the quickest Test match ever, chasing down the goal of 78 runs for the loss of three wickets before the conclusion of the second session on Day 2 of the Test, which was scheduled to continue for five full days.

Chinnaswamy Epic:

After two full days of play, a Test match that seemed to have everything the game had to offer was over, but the Indians made sure the country would not be left disappointed by playing a long Twenty20 International match against Afghanistan without Rashid Khan that needed not one, but two super overs to decide a winner.

India had already won the series against the rising Afghanistan going into the third match of a three-match Twenty20 International series. India had won the first two games of the visit.

And what was expected to be a rubber match ended up becoming the longest Twenty20 international match ever, with Afghanistan and India exchanging blows in a thrilling match that the fortunate few who attended Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium could never forget.

Most thought the game was over when Rohit struck a massive century, an undefeated 121 off only 69 deliveries, leading India to a commanding total of 212 runs in 20 overs. However, the tenacious Afghan team was full of surprises, scoring as many runs as India did with half-tons from Gulbadin Naib, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Ibrahim Zadran.

Afghanistan made it into a super over by forcing them to bat first, and they scored 17 runs.

After Rohit struck two sixers in the tie-breaker, Team India seemed to be headed for victory. However, they were unable to cross the finish line since they were only able to score as many runs as their opponents in the vital six deliveries, necessitating another tie-breaker.

Although the double super over isn’t unprecedented—we’ve seen games involving the Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings that needed two super over tiebreakers to determine the winner—for both teams, this was new ground in terms of international competition.

Beyond the event organizers’ wildest expectations, a second super over was played long into the night, as Rohit once again produced, as he frequently does in pressure-filled circumstances. Before Ravi Bishnoi used his spin skills to take two Afghan wickets and give India the victory in the longest T20I match to history, the opener struck a four and a six to put India in a strong position the second time around as well.