Heartbreaking Moments That Indian Fans Have Suffered In The Past Decade

In the past ten years, Indian cricket has scaled several heights and has given many unforgettable moments that Indian fans will cherish throughout their lives; whether it is the 2011 World Cup-win or the 2013 Champions Trophy triumph in 2013 or the accession to the No.1 spot in Test cricket or the historic Test series win Down Under in the summer of 2018.

But, that is not to say, it has all been hunky-dory. During the course of the past decade, Indian fans have also endured the ignominy of a plethora of heart-wrenching defeats, one that has proceeded to leave a scar forever.

Here’s a look at heartbreaking moments that Indian cricket fans have suffered in the past decade-

0-8 in England & Australia, 2011-12

In the summer of 2011, Indian fans were at the top of the world. After all, in the past two years, they had seen their team scale the numero-uno spot in Test cricket and also realize their 28-year-old dream of winning the World Cup.

So, when a star-studded Indian team landed on English shores for a four-match Test series, it seemed like nothing could go wrong. Did it? Of course, it did.

And, the first signs of it came when their ace fast bowler Zaheer Khan hobbled off the ground and the series on the first morning of the first Test. Little, did the Indian fans had realized that it was just a sign of things to come, as a relentless England absolutely hammered their star-studded team by a 0-4 margin. Rahul Dravid’s three hundred was the only saving grace for the Men in Blue but it was no consolation for the fact that they had just relinquished their numero-uno spot.

If 0-4 shellacking against England wasn’t enough, Indian fans endured another ignominy as the Men in Blue suffered another humiliating whitewash, a few months later in Australia, one that only spelled the end of the golden era of Indian batting but also placed significant question marks on MS Dhoni’s credentials as Test captain.

Retirement of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag & Sachin Tendulkar

For any Indian fan who grew up watching the golden era of Indian batting, the period 2012-2015 proved to be a heartwrenching one as the likes of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag called time on their international career.

And, quite incredibly, barring Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who got fitting farewell on his home ground in 2013, none of his colleagues in Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman or Virender Sehwag got a farewell game.

While Rahul Dravid called it quits in the immediate aftermath of the series whitewash in Australia in 2011-12, VVS Laxman announced his retirement ahead of the 2012-13 home season.

Virender Sehwag, on the other hand, was dropped from the Test team during the 2013 home series against Australia. With Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay staking their claim to the opening spot, Sehwag’s chances of making a comeback were all but over. Two years later, the swashbuckling opener called it quits, signaling the official end of the golden era of Indian batting.

Yuvraj Singh’s struggle in the 2014 T20 World Cup Final & back-to-back T20 World Cup heartbreaks

For any Indian fan who grew up watching cricket in the 2000s, Yuvraj Singh’s name was synonymous with big-match performances.

Whether it was the 2000 U-19 World Cup or the ICC Knockout Trophy in the same year or the 2007 T20 World Cup or the 2011 World Cup campaign, Yuvraj played a stellar role in each of those marquee events.

And, so to see their big match hero struggle [11 off 21 balls] the way he did in that 2014 ICC T20 World Cup final against Sri Lanka was heartwrenching. To see a guy, who has won so many games for his country from virtually impossible situations, struggle, was just a brutal reminder of the fact that maybe life has come a full circle for India’s biggest match-winner.

India went on to lose the final and apart from the ignominy of the defeat, to see Yuvraj’s shattered face as he stood lonely in the post-match presentation has got to be one of the most heartbreaking moments for an Indian cricket fan in the past decade.

And, if it was Yuvraj in 2014, the sight of Virat Kohli on his haunches as West Indies shattered his and a billion hopes to knock the hosts out of the 2016 T20 World Cup in Mumbai. Of-course the no-balls by Ravi Ashwin and Hardik Pandya didn’t help India’s cause as Virat Kohli, for the second successive edition, finished on the wrong side of the result despite being the tournament’s leading run-scorer on both occasions.

Defeat to Pakistan in CT 2017 Final

Any loss to arch-rivals Pakistan is a heart-wrenching affair for an Indian fan but the 2017 Champions Trophy final defeat was even more difficult to take, considering Pakistan hadn’t won a game against India in ICC events since 2009 and had been walloped just a few days ago in the league-stage.

But then, as they say, unpredictability is the constant in Pakistan cricket and it was proved to the hilt that day at the Oval. Fakhar Zaman got an early reprieve thanks to a Jasprit Bumrah no-ball and he made India paid for it big time.

Zaman scored his maiden hundred while Mohammad Amir knocked off the famed Indian top-3 in what was a dream spell of fast bowling. India were eventually dismissed for 158 as Pakistan pulled off a 180-run win to win the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Test Series defeats in England, South Africa & New Zealand

Indian Test team has grown by leaps and bounds ever since Virat Kohli took over the reins from MS Dhoni during the 2014-15 Australian tour.

Throughout the 2016-17 season, the Indian cricket team dominated at home, shellacking almost everyone that came to their turf and went on to become the No.1 Test team.

But, there was something different about this Indian team. In Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, their fast bowling had really come off age, and with the middle-order in Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane as potent as ever, everyone thought this was the best chance for the Indian team to script memorable series wins in the overseas cycle and impinge their status as the No.1 ranked side in the world.

But what followed in the months to follow, was a similar tale of being so close yet so far, as dubious selection calls coupled by listless batting by the top-order, especially in the fourth innings of a Test match, paved way for series defeats in South Africa [1-2] and England [1-4].

A historic win in Australia proceeded to revive dispirit Indian fans but a 0-2 shellacking at the hands of New Zealand earlier this year, once again made it clear that Virat Kohli’s team is just another team, not THE TEAM.

World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand, 2019

Shocking. Heart-wrenching. Soul crushing. You can use as many adjectives you want, but even those wouldn’t be able to encapsulate the heartbreak that was the 2019 World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand at Old Trafford.

Chasing 240 to win on the reserve-day, it all came crashing down for the Men in Blue as they lost their famed top-3 within a space of first 15 minutes of their innings.

3-5 became 4-24 and 6-92 when a whirlwind partnership between Ravindra Jadeja [77] and MS Dhoni [50] once again revived the fledgling hopes. But just as it looked the duo will take India past the finishing line, Trent Boult’s dismissal of Jadeja and Guptill’s pin-point throw to run-out MS Dhoni not only ended Indian fans hopes but maybe, just maybe, the career of one of their most beloved stars, MS Dhoni.

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