The year 2015 has been an eventful one for the Indian cricket team. It began in Australia, under a new Test captain leading the team in the traditional New Year’s Test at the SCG. Then came the mega event, the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, where the team played brilliantly in the initial stages but failed to raise their game when it mattered the most.

The shocker of the year was witnessed in Bangladesh while the tour to Sri Lanka brought the smiles back. A hammering at home, in the shorter formats against the visiting Proteas, was a low point while a Test series win against the same team a substantially higher one. It was a memorable year in the longest format while a disappointing one in ODIs and T20Is. While IPL kept making its presence felt throughout the year, the form of some individuals kept everyone interested.

Here’s a look at the most talked about moments in Indian cricket in 2015:

1. Virat&#8217;s elevation to Test captaincy:

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2015/12/Virat-Kohli-of-India-GettyImages-460349932.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-47555"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-47555" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Virat-Kohli-of-India-GettyImages-460349932.jpg" alt="Virat Kohli " width="650" height="459" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-47555" class="wp-caption-text">ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA &#8211; DECEMBER 12: Virat Kohli of India leaves the field at the end of day four of the First Test match between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval on December 12, 2014 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Virat Kohli was appointed India’s Test captain after MS Dhoni announced his retirement from the longest form of the game. The current ODI and T20I skipper did so after the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne which ended in a draw. Virat, having led the team in the first Test as well due to Dhoni’s absence, was now in the hot seat as a regular skipper.

The Sydney Test ended in a draw however, the series was already secured (2-0) by the home side. The news of Virat’s elevation as the Test skipper was being looked upon as the dawn of a new era in Indian cricket and rightly so. He made headlines promising aggressive cricket even if it meant losing an odd game in the process. Openly advocating a 5-bowler theory, he largely managed to live up to his promises throughout the year.

2. India&#8217;s World Cup campaign:

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2015/11/India-vs-Pakistan-2015-World-Cup-After-Match.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-42820"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-42820" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/India-vs-Pakistan-2015-World-Cup-After-Match.jpg" alt="India-Pakistan series" width="594" height="396" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-42820" class="wp-caption-text">(© Getty Images)</figcaption>

The triangular ODI series following the Tests in Australia turned out to be a complete disappointment as the team failed to win a single match against the home team as well as England. Amid speculations about form and team composition, India began the world cup campaign with a brilliant win against arch rivals Pakistan. The massive Indian support at the MCG became a high point of the WC and Indian fan following was applauded by the skipper MS Dhoni as the team thrashed the Proteas by 130 runs.

India faced Bangladesh in the quarter-final after being unbeaten in the competition and won by a convincing margin, but the match also had its fair share of controversy when opener Rohit Sharma, batting on 89, was caught off a full toss delivery which seemed a fair one however was signalled as a no ball. Next up was the big semi-final, against the Aussies whom India had battled long and hard without winning a single game on the tour. The team’s form was encouraging however the match turned out to be a disaster as the Aussies thumped India by 95 runs thereby dashing a billion hopes of retaining the world cup.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2015/05/Mumbai-Indians-2015-IPL-Champions.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-19394"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-19394" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Mumbai-Indians-2015-IPL-Champions.jpg" alt="CSK vs MI" width="650" height="378" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-19394" class="wp-caption-text">Mumbai Indians Are The 2015 IPL Champions. (Photo Source: BCCI)</figcaption>

The 2015 edition turned out to a remarkable tournament. After a fortnight into the season, Mumbai Indians had lost five of their six matches and lay at the bottom of the standings. MI coach Ricky Ponting and the skipper Rohit Sharma spurred their team to approach every remaining match as a final. This attitude paid rich dividends as MI scripted one of the most extraordinary turnarounds in the history of the competition; they won nine of their next ten fixtures, including the final, to be crowned Pepsi IPL 2015 champions.

BCCI started a new initiative named IPL Fanpark to spread the reach of IPL across the country and the concept turned out to be a massive hit. The other big news was the IPL scandal which saw Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals suspended. A panel appointed by India&#8217;s Supreme Court suspended the two teams for two years over a corruption scandal. Both of these teams had been found guilty in an illegal betting and match-fixing probe. BCCI accepted the verdict and invited short-term bids for 2 new teams. New Rising group bought the Pune franchise while Delhi-based Intex picked up Rajkot.

4. Bangladesh beat India:

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2015/06/Mustafizur-Rahman-Bangladesh.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-21850"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-21850" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Mustafizur-Rahman-Bangladesh.jpg" alt="Bangladesh Squad Ratings" width="650" height="418" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-21850" class="wp-caption-text">Mustafizur Rahman. (Photo Source: Associated Press)</figcaption>

India’s first ODI series after the world cup was an embarrassing one to say the least. Bangladesh played some fantastic cricket to win the series 2-1. Playing at home the Tigers went 2-0 up and outplayed India in all facets of the game. While winning and losing is a part and parcel of the game and there is no shame in losing to a team that played better cricket, the manner in which India lost the series was appalling at best. In spite of playing a full strength team, India failed to even put up a fight and lost the 1st ODI by 79 runs and the 2nd one by 6 wickets.

Though the team managed to pull one back by winning the inconsequential final ODI, the damage that was done earlier was inescapable. Immense scrutiny by media and former greats was inevitable. The team composition became a major talking point ever since this defeat. Batting, something that was considered India’s biggest strength, was heavily criticized and justifiably so. On flat pitches where the Bangladeshi batsmen were able to score runs at will, the much hyped Indian batting lineup failed to even get past 250 in either of the first 2 matches.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2015/09/Indian-captain-Virat-Kohli-C-celebrates-victory-with-teammates-at-close-of-play-on-the-final-day-GettyImages-486137624.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-30470"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-30470 size-full" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Indian-captain-Virat-Kohli-C-celebrates-victory-with-teammates-at-close-of-play-on-the-final-day-GettyImages-486137624.jpg" alt="India vs South Africa 1st Test Preview" width="594" height="386" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-30470" class="wp-caption-text">(© AFP/Getty Images)</figcaption>

In what turned out to be a gem of a Test series, India beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in their backyard. What made the victory even more special was the fact that India had lost the first Test from a dominant position yet the players kept their spirits up to register a grand comeback. Virat Kohli led the team brilliantly as the young team played fearless cricket, something that was advocated by the team management. There were several individual performances that made an impact, however, the most impressive part was that the team played as a cohesive unit, complimenting one another well and never let their shoulders drop in demanding situations.

India was bowled out for 112 in the first Test chasing a target of 176; a huge psychological blow considering India had dominated the entire match apart from one session that witnessed the home side’s Dinesh Chandimal playing the best knock of his career till date. Hundreds from KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane along with fifties from skipper Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha and Murali Vijay enabled India to dominate the match which the team eventually pocketed by a huge margin of 278 runs.

An injury to Vijay got Cheteshwar Pujara back in the team for the decider. His magnificent 145* in the first innings of the match was one of the high points of the series. Ishant Sharma bowled with fire picking up a match haul of 8 wickets as the team won by 117 runs and sealed the series. He was involved with in an altercation with Sri Lanka’s Dhammika Prasad that earned him a one-match suspension. R Ashwin took 21 wickets and finished as the highest wicket-taker in the series followed by Amit Mishra who got 15. Their spectacular spin bowling partnership became a major talking point of the series.

6. The bottle throwing incident at Cuttack:

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2015/10/Crowd-Throwing-Bottles-In-Barabati-Stadium-Cuttack.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-35188"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-35188" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Crowd-Throwing-Bottles-In-Barabati-Stadium-Cuttack.jpg" alt="Indian cricket fans disgraced the country" width="594" height="390" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-35188" class="wp-caption-text">(© DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Crowd trouble forced two interruptions in play during the second T20I at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on 5th October as India suffered a six-wicket defeat against the South Africa. Play was held up for more than 50 minutes during the visitors’ run chase after spectators, largely from one section of the stadium, began throwing plastic bottles onto the field. Though the incident was downplayed by Indian skipper MS Dhoni, it raised serious questions about the safety precautions at grounds in India, especially for a high-profile match like this.

The standard procedure is for spectators who buy drinks at the ground to be given their liquid refreshments in plastic cups, whether water or soft drinks, which cannot be used as missiles. How the spectators could carry bottles to their seats in this game became a matter for investigation. Also apparent was the relaxed security; when the match resumed after the break most of the policemen on the boundary could be seen watching the match rather than facing the crowd as per the procedure. There were calls from all quarters for a ban on the venue, especially from former great Sunil Gavaskar who was utterly disgusted with the incident. Odisha Home Secretary, Asit Kumar Tripathy in November stated that he had submitted the report on this incident to the government however it hasn&#8217;t been made public till date.

7. MSD&#8217;s captaincy:

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2015/10/MS-Dhoni-T20-ODI-Skipper.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-34803"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-34803" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-T20-ODI-Skipper.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni T20 &amp; ODI Skipper" width="650" height="444" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-34803" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni . (Photo Source: BCCI)</figcaption>

The magic touch that saw Mahendra Singh Dhoni guide India to all three International Cricket Council titles, the World Twenty20 in 2007, the World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013, went missing this year. After losing the series against Bangladesh, his captaincy was heavily scrutinised. The Hindu newspaper ran the headline ‘The heat is on Captain Cool,’ while The Hindustan Times reported, ‘Captain going cold with both tactics and bat.’ A place in this year’s world cup semi-finals was at best a par considering a format that was heavily loaded in favour of top teams. The subsequent losses in a one-day series in Bangladesh, in the T20I and the ODI series against South Africa at home have all been major setbacks.

Dhoni has been unable to show the instincts that had helped him outsmart the opposition with superb bowling strategies and field placements. Encouraging a swing bowler like Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bowl short with his pace, seemed an innocuous move which heavily backfired. Though he has scored runs consistently, Dhoni&#8217;s big-hitting ability is clearly not even close to what it once was. One of the main criticisms of his captaincy has been that he sticks to similar lineups without making many chances despite of repeated failures. With the selectors opting for a new look ODI and T20I team for the tour to Australia in 2016, Dhoni’s leadership skills will once again be put through a litmus test.

8. Ajinkya Rahane&#8217;s rise:

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2015/12/Ajinkya-Rahane-of-India-bats-GettyImages-460860748.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-47557"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-47557" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Ajinkya-Rahane-of-India-bats-GettyImages-460860748.jpg" alt="Ajinkya Rahane" width="640" height="435" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-47557" class="wp-caption-text">MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA &#8211; DECEMBER 28: Ajinkya Rahane of India bats as wicketkeeper Brad Haddin of Australia looks on during day three of the Third Test match between Australia and India at Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 28, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)</figcaption>

From a perennial traveller in the squad to becoming the team’s most dependable batsman, Ajinkya Rahane&#8217;s rise in Indian cricket has been nothing short of phenomenal. Having scored Test hundreds in New Zealand, England, and Australia last year, he had a gala time in the subcontinent this year. Hundreds in challenging conditions and tough situations in Sri Lanka, and recently in India against South Africa, confirmed his stature as the team’s most consistent Test batsman.

Even in ODIs he played some memorable innings this year. His half-century against the Proteas in the world cup at the MCG was a marvelous display of attacking batting. He scored runs against Australia as well in the semi-final and his wicket proved the final nail in the coffin for India. His batting in ODIs was in the spotlight after skipper MS Dhoni criticized it during the series against Bangladesh, however Rahane took it positively and kept scoring runs in all formats. His ODI performances have been excellent and he even captained the Indian team on the tour to Zimbabwe in the absence of several senior players. His knock of 87 from just 58 balls against the Proteas in the 5th and final ODI in Mumbai was a blistering knock which won him many more admirers.

9. Test series win over SA at home:

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2015/12/Virat-Kohli-of-India-Celebrates-Win-Against-South-Africa-4th-Test-Delhi-7th-Dec-2015.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-44618"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-44618" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Virat-Kohli-of-India-Celebrates-Win-Against-South-Africa-4th-Test-Delhi-7th-Dec-2015.jpg" alt="India v South Africa 4th Test" width="650" height="434" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-44618" class="wp-caption-text">(Photo Source: BCCI)</figcaption>

The pattern of the year continued at home for the team. The disappointment of an ODI series was again followed by the jubilation of a Test series win. This time it was South Africa who faced the heat against a charged up Test team that wasn&#8217;t ready to give an inch. The pitches in India became a talking point as prodigious turn troubled batsmen from both sides. Many former greats were involved in social media banter of serious nature. Virat Kohli and team Director Ravi Shastri kept defending the team’s strategy of playing on such surfaces in spite of the matches not lasting the distance.

The first Test finished in 3 days at Mohali and so did the 3rd one at Nagpur. The 2nd match at Bengaluru witnessed play only on day 1 as the remaining days were washed out to rain. The match still hogged the limelight being AB de Villiers’ 100th Test match, and the fact that he scored a fine half-century on day 1 made it special for all his fans in India. The 4th and final Test at Delhi was a dramatic affair that ended with a win for the home side in the last session on Day 5. A 3-0 victory was a huge achievement against the current number 1 ranked Test team in the world. Ravindra Jadeja made a spectacular comeback to the national side while Ravichandran Ashwin continued his golden run having dominated the visiting batsmen. Amit Mishra also made his presence felt with timely wickets.

<a href="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/2015/12/Indian-cricketer-Ravichandran-Ashwin-stretches-GettyImages-482995668.jpg" rel="attachment wp-att-47560"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-47560" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Indian-cricketer-Ravichandran-Ashwin-stretches-GettyImages-482995668.jpg" alt="Ravichandran Ashwin " width="650" height="380" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px"></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-47560" class="wp-caption-text">Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin stretches during a practice session. AFP PHOTO/ Ishara S. KODIKARA (Photo credit should read Ishara S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images)</figcaption>

R Ashwin’s presence loomed large on all opposition batsmen throughout the year. In the 3-match series against Sri Lanka, he dismissed Kumar Sangakkara, who was retiring following the second Test, four consecutive times in his final four innings. Ashwin finished with 21 wickets and in the process broke the record for most wickets by an Indian bowler in a series against Sri Lanka. He was awarded the Man of the Series.

In November, he was a star performer throughout the Freedom Trophy Test series against South Africa in India. During this series, he became the fastest Indian to reach 150 wickets in Test cricket. In the third Test in Nagpur, he picked up 12 wickets for 98 runs to hand South Africa their first away series loss in 9 years. His career-best figures of 7/66 in the second innings bowled out the Proteas for 185 and gave India a 2–0 series win. His 31 wickets from 4 matches earned him another Man of the Series award.

“I see a lot of myself in Ashwin. He is a fantastic cricketer with a lot of work ethic. Obviously, he is a far better batsman than me,” said Anil Kumble about Ashwin; a huge compliment from India’s greatest match-winner in Test cricket. Ashwin’s witty replies to the media about Indian pitches and the opposition batsmen were also as big a hit as his bowling. With the series win against South Africa, India climbed two spots to Number 2 in the ICC Test rankings while Ashwin continued to hold on to the top spot in the ICC Test all-rounder rankings.

10 Most talked about moments of Indian cricket in 2015

The year 2015 has been an eventful one for the Indian cricket team. It began in Australia, under a new Test captain leading the team in the traditional New Year’s Test at the SCG. Then came the mega event, the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, where the team played brilliantly in the initial stages but failed to raise their game when it mattered the most.