Phew! It’s finally over and we are almost 10 days into the new year. And what a year 2024 has been, both on and off the field. 2024 was the first year where the birthplace of modern democracy, the world’s largest democracy and the world’s most powerful democracy held national elections. On the field, sports fans like me were treated to the usual lineup of annual tournaments; NFL’s Super Bowl, Cricket’s Ranji trophy, Basketball’s NBA Championship but it’s the biennial and quadrennial events; Cricket’s T-20 World Cup, Soccer’s Euro Cup and the Olympics that garnered the most interest.   

For the Indian Men’s Cricket team, it was a Jekyll and Hyde year. They started the year by squaring the test series against South Africa, then handily beat the visiting English side 4-1and topped it off by winning the T-20 World Cup mid-year. The last quarter, however, was a bad dream turned into a surreal nightmare. After being whitewashed 0-3 at home in the test series against unfancied New Zealand, they were beaten 3-1 by the Aussies down under. From Apex to Nadir, that was their story. They can redeem themselves quickly by winning the 2025 ICC Champions trophy,

As a born and brought up  Mumbaikar, who grew up in the 1970’s and 80’s, in the shadow of Shivaji Park, the most hallowed cricket ground in the World, India’s domestic Ranji trophy tournament will always carry a special fondness. Mumbai’s cricket team after knocking on the door for the last few years, finally won it’s 42^nd Ranji trophy, a record that is envy of any team. In a future column, I will compare how Mumbai’s Ranji trophy record compares against the globe’s most successful teams across a multitude of sports. Speaking of successful teams, who can forget our adopted hometown’s basketball team, the Celtics, who captured their 18^th NBA championship in style dispatching the Dallas Mavericks.

The 2024 Olympics were their usual grand spectacle and with the opening ceremony held on the streets of Paris, a truly unique experience for Parisians.   Overall, the Olympics was a mixed performance for Team India with several prospective winners finishing 4^th and returning home empty handed. Still, one needs to commend the men’s hockey team for winning a consecutive bronze medal, Neeraj Chopra’s silver medal following his gold medal in Tokyo Olympics and Manu Bhaker’s two bronze medals. Indo Americans can always take comfort that our adopted country won the most medals and was tied for the most gold medals. Well done, Team USA.

Whatever disappointment Indian fans carried over from the Olympics were quickly erased by Team India  winning the men’s and women’s team championship and 4 individual gold medals at the 45^th World Chess Olympiad. India cemented its dominance in Chess with D. Gukesh winning the World Chess Championship in the concluding month of 2024.

So as with every year, there are many contenders for the top sports moment of the year, from cricket to basketball, hockey and chess. There is however something special about a teenage phenom rapidly climbing the rankings and winning the World Chess Championship at the tender age of 18, and D. Gukesh’s  victory is my top sports moment of the year.

In conclusion, let’s say our goodbyes to a phenomenal 2024 and look forward to 2025. 2025 has been lauded in a myriad different ways, the first perfect square since 1936, the product of two perfect squares, the sum of all single digit cubes but alas for sports fan’s it’s an odd year, with the ICC cricket championship the only international sporting event of consequence. Still, my fellow sports fans, let’s enjoy what it has to offer, and raise a toast to a wonderful 2025.

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