Cricket 2015: The year in review
One thing for sure, the year we just left behind began with a bang, and gave us some incredible action on the cricket fields world over, from Melbourne to Mirpur or Cape Town to Calcutta, headlines were grabbed with unforgettable display with the ball and bat.
Let’s review the major cricketing events in 2015, ones that deserve a second look.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Jan 6 2015
South Africa retain Test Championship mace
South Africa's 2-0 series win over West Indies helped them hold on to the top spot in the ICC Test rankings.
Jan 18 2015
AB de Villiers scores fastest ton on ODIs
De Villiers blazed to three figures in just 31 deliveries against West Indies to lead South Africa to 439/2 - their highest score in an ODI.
Jan 31 2015
Dwayne Bravo retires from Test cricket
The all-rounder, whose last Test match was against Sri Lanka in December 2010, finished with 2200 runs and 86 wickets in 40 Tests.
Feb 15 2015
India remain unbeaten against Pakistan in World Cup
Virat Kohli slammed a century as Pakistan lost by 76 runs to suffer their sixth World Cup defeat to India.
Feb 16 2015
Yuvraj costliest buy in IPL auction
Yuvraj Singh - Rs 16 Crore to Delhi Daredevils, Dinesh Karthik - Rs 10.5 Crores to Royal Challengers Bangalore
Feb 24 2015
Chris Gayle scores World Cup's first double ton
Chris Gayle's record-breaking 215 helped West Indies make a strong statement with a 73-run win over Zimbabwe.
Feb 27 2015
AB de Villiers smashes fastest 150 in ODIs
AB de Villiers reached 150 off only 64 deliveries against West Indies, beating Shane Watson's record (83 balls).
Feb 28 2015
New Zealand edge Australia in thriller
Trent Boult picked up 5-27 while Mitchell Starc bagged 6-28, but it was Williamson six that helped New Zealand win by one wicket.
Mar 9 2015
Historic win for Bangladesh, Humiliation for England
Bangladesh entered the quarter-finals for the first time in World Cup history with a shock win over England.
Mar 14 2015
Brendan Taylor exits world stage on bittersweet note
Taylor scored a century in his final international game before leaving for England in the hopes of forging a successful career as a Kolpak player.
Mar 18 2015
Farewell Sanga and Mahela
South Africa defeated Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals to finally win a knockout game in an ICC Cricket World Cup.
Mar 21 2015
Guptill 237 flattens West Indies
The New Zealand batsman registers the highest individual score in the World Cup and the second highest in ODI cricket.
Mar 24 2015
NZ reach maiden World Cup final, heart-break for SA
South Africa and New Zealand played a World Cup semi-final for the ages. In the other semis, Australia ended India's winning run.
Mar 29 2015
Australia claim fifth World Cup crown, Farewell for Clarke
A dominant performance fetched Australia a seven-wicket victory over New Zealand in the final, which was Michael Clarke's final ODI appearance.
Mar 31 2015
Daniel Vettori retires from international cricket
Vettori, who became the first bowler from New Zealand to take 300 ODI wickets, also ended his Test career as the second highest wicket-taker for his country. The following day, his country-mate Kyle Mills also retired.
Apr 10 2015
'Voice of cricket' Richie Benaud dies aged 84
Benaud, one of Australia's most influential cricketers, had been fighting skin cancer and passed away in a Sydney hospice.
Apr 11 2015
Brendon McCullum scores first ton of IPL 2015
SunRisers Hyderabad were at the receiving end of a brutal assault by McCullum, who scored a 56-ball 100 not out.
Apr 17 2015
James Anderson becomes England's leading wicket-taker in Tests
England's pace spearhead went past Ian Botham's record in his 100th Test appearance.
Apr 22 2015
Bangladesh secure maiden series win against Pakistan
The Mashrafe Mortaza-led side handed a 3-0 whitewash to Pakistan to register their maiden ODI series win against their Asian rivals.
May 2 2015
Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes hammer record stand
Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes notched up the highest opening stand of 312 runs for Bangladesh in the first Test against Pakistan at Khulna.
May 4 2015
Jonathan Trott retires from international cricket
Trott struggled for runs on his return to the Test arena during England's 1-1 drawn series with West Indies.
May 9 2015
Strauss appointed as England director of cricket; Moores sacked
The two-time Ashes-winning captain was appointed after month-long recruitment process.
May 22 2015
End of international wait for Pakistan
The 60,000-capacity stadium in Lahore was transformed into bedlam when Pakistan hosted Zimbabwe in the first T20I.
May 24 2015
Mumbai Indians clinch second IPL title
Mumbai Indians won their second title in three years when they defeated Chennai Super Kings by 41 runs in the IPL 2015 final at Eden Gardens.
May 30 2015
Cook surpasses Gooch
Alastair Cook became England's leading run-scorer in Test cricket as he went past Graham Gooch.
Jun 5 2015
Craig Kieswetter retires from all forms of cricket
The 27-year-old suffered a horrific eye injury while batting for Somerset against Northamptonshire in a County game in July 2014.
Jun 11 2015
Matt Prior announces retirement
The wicket-keeper announced his retirement from all forms of professional cricket, on medical advice.
Jun 21 2015
Mustafizur bowls Bangladesh to historic series win against India
The series win against India assured Bangladesh a spot in the Champions Trophy.
Jun 25 2015
Zaheer Abbas confirmed as new ICC President
Former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas assumed the role of the ICC President on day three of the ICC Annual Conference week in Barbados.
July 4 2015
Ryan Harris retires from all forms of cricket
The Australian fast bowler announced his retirement after a knee injury ruled him out of the Ashes.
July 14 2015
CSK, RR suspended for two years
Gurunath Meiyappan (India Cements) and Raj Kundra (Jaipur IPL Pvt Ltd) were banned for life from all BCCI-related cricket activities.
July 15 2015
Bangladesh make history, again
The series win against South Africa capped another historic success for Mashrafe Mortaza's men.
July 15 2015
Shakib becomes the highest wicket-taker at Bangladesh
Shakib’s three wickets in the series decider cemented his place as the highest wicket-taker at home in 50-over matches, 123 dismissals in 84 games played in Bangladesh.
July 30 2015
Steyn fastest to 400 Test wickets
Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh opener, was the South African pace spearhead's 400th Test scalp.
Aug 1 2015
Pakistan complete treble in Sri Lanka
Pakistan won the T20I series 2-0 to complete a remarkable treble on the six-week tour, having earlier won the Test series 2-1 and the one-dayers 3-2.
Aug 6 2015
Stuart Broad rips through Australia
A career-best 8-15 by Broad helped England bowl Australia out for 60 in 18.3 overs, the shortest first innings in Test cricket.
Aug 8 2015
England regain the Ashes with thumping innings win
England won the fourth Test at Trent Bridge by an innings and 78 runs to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
Aug 23 2015
Australia send Clarke, Rogers into sunset with consolation win
Australia secured a consolation win in the final Ashes Test as Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers ended their careers on a high.
Aug 24 2015
Sangakkara bids adieu, India square series
India levelled the three-match series with a 278-run win against Sri Lanka in what was Kumar Sangakkara's final international appearance.
Sept 1 2015
India clinch historic series win in Cricbuzz Cup
India defeated Sri Lanka in the final Test to win the series 2-1, their first series win in Sri Lanka in 22 years.
Sept 6 2015
Shane Watson announces Test retirement
Watson ended his career in the five-day format with 3,731 runs and 75 wickets in 59 Tests.
Sept 9 2015
Brad Haddin retires from international cricket
Haddin became the fifth Australian player to retire in the Ashes summer after Ryan Harris, Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, and Shane Watson.
Sept 20 2015
Jagmohan Dalmiya passes away
The BCCI president, aged 75, breathed his last within 72 hours of a heart surgery.
Oct 15 2015
Zaheer Khan announces international retirement
The left-arm pacer said he will feature in next year's IPL before retiring from all forms of the game.
Oct 20 2015
Sehwag announces retirement
The 37-year-old brought down the curtains on a glorious international career that spanned 16 years and which saw him aggregate 17,253 runs across all formats.
Oct 25 2015
Records tumble as South Africa clinch ODI series
South Africa posted a mammoth 438 for 4, subsequently winning the match by 214 runs and went on to claim their first ever ODI series win on India soil.
Oct 28 2015
Afghanistan stun Zimbabwe
Afghanistan completed a successful tour by winning both the ODI and the T20I series.
Nov 17 2015
Mitchell Johnson retires from international cricket
The left-arm pacer, who retired at the conclusion of the second Test against New Zealand, finished fourth on the all-time list of Test wicket-takers for Australia with 313 wickets.
Nov 22 2015
Mohammad Amir shines as scandal-hit BPL resumes
Amir returned to spotlight with 4-30 in the opening game of BPL 2015. Comilla Victorians emerged as champions of the league in December.
Nov 27 2015
End of South Africa's glorious run
South Africa lost an overseas Test series for the first time in nine years as India took an unassailable 2-0 series lead in Nagpur.
Nov 29 2015
Australia win day-night Test
The first ever day-night Test match, between Australia and New Zealand, ended in three days with Australia winning the match to clinch the series.
Nov 30 2015
England sweep T20I series in Super-Over finish
The victory lifted England to fourth in the Twenty20 rankings while Pakistan, second before the series, fell to sixth. Pakistan won the Test series while England clinched the One-Dayers.
Dec 2 2015
Mustafizur Rahman becomes first Bangladeshi in ICC ODI team of 2015
The 20-year-old left-arm bowling sensation, Mustafizur Rahman becomes the first Bangladeshi cricketer from his country to make the ICC ODI Team of the Year.
Dec 03 2015
Cook named captain of ICC Team of the Year
Alastair Cook was named captain of the ICC Test Team of the Year which also features his fellow-countrymen Joe Root and Stuart Broad. Australia also have three representatives, in Steven Smith, David Warner and Josh Hazlewood.
Dec 07 2015
India beat South Africa 3-0
South Africa put out a blockathon to try and save the final Test against India, but despite AB de Villiers, Amla and Faf du Plessis' best efforts, India won the game and sealed the series 3-0.
Dec 11 2015
World T20 Schedule announced
Cricket fans got a reason to can rejoice after the two arch-rivals were drawn together in the same group for the T20 WC to be held in India next year. India, Pakistan, New Zealand and Australia were drawn in the same group.
Dec 15 2015
Comilla Victorians become BPL-2015 champions
Late order heroics from Alok Kapali gave Comilla Victorians the title of BPL-2015 champions after they beat Barisal Bulls by three wickets in a nail-biting final at Mirpur stadium.
Dec 15 2015
MS Dhoni picked up by Pune, Raina goes to Rajkot
MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina's IPL partnership finally came to an end as the two new team, Pune and Rajkot, picked up the players. McCullum, Jadeja, Ashwin, Faf, Bravo, Smith, Rahane and Faulkner were picked by one of the teams, too.
Dec 22 2015
Brendon McCullum to retire after Australia Tests
Brendon McCullum officially announced that he will retire after the second Test against Australia in February. It meant that he will not be available for the World T20 starting soon after.
Dec 23 2015
Steve Smith bags top honours at ICC Awards 2015
Smith wins cricketer and Test crickter of the year. ABD bags ODI cricketer of the year. Josh Hazlewood won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year.
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