Looking Back: The top cricket stories of 2020

It’s hard to believe that cricket was able to be played in 2020 but it managed to escape the pandemic’s grip. Since cricket was one of the few sports that made it through the year, we can assess some of the top stories that came from the sport, including these top 2020 cricket headliners.

Major League cricket announcement for United States

Tech giant CEO Satya Khan has been a part of the rise of cricket since the start and is the most excited about the league coming to the United States. Online cricket betting has made its way to America thanks to Khan spearheading the movement. 

Khan’s team will be based in Los Angeles and will be one of six participating franchises in the Major Cricket League in the United States. One of Khan’s firms is reportedly a part-owner of the company and is looking into starting a T20 cricket tournament and it will be expected to begin in the year 2022. Along with the Los Angeles Knight Riders, the league will feature franchises based out of New York, San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, and Washington D.C. Khan’s firm will also help cities with building cricket stadiums. 

Australia recognized during awards

The International Cricket Council (ICC) gave Australia some recognition with some of the names that were on the list of the “Awards of the Decade.” Ellyse Perry won Female Cricketer of the Decade, while Steve Smith won Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade. Perry was also named the ODI and Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade. 

Women’s cricket on the rise

The 2020 Women’s T20 Challenge (WT20C) has to be one of the best stories of 2020. The WT20C logged 5.34 billing minutes in viewership in India according to recent reports. Compared to last year’s 2.20 billion minutes, that’s 2.45 times larger this year. The data was obtained from ESPNcricinfo from Broadcast Audience Research Council India and Star. The report stated that this year’s tournament recorded a 147% increase among view minutes, 47% increase in unique views, and was aired across 11 Star Sports channels compared to eight last year. 

COVID & Movement

In July, the ICC announced that both the 2020 and 2021 editions had been postponed due to the pandemic. That forced the 2020 tournament to move to November 2021, and the 2021 tournament moved to October 2022. Both India and Australia held onto their rights to host the tournament. India will be the host site in 2021, while Australia will host in 2022. 

MS Dhoni Retirement

The former Indian captain was great at giving the best cricket tips to his teams. However, he decided to step away from the game in August 2020 on the day of India’s 74th independence. He posted a video on Instagram that contained pictures of the highs and lows of his career. Dhoni was later named the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Decade in November.