Well the Sun never sets on the sporting horizon but the significant events that occurred in the world of sports during the most recent trip that we took around our beloved star are...
2016: a trip around the sporting world
Well the Sun never sets on the sporting horizon but the significant events that occurred in the world of sports during the most recent trip that we took around our beloved star are...
Through the covers!
The year 2016 for Pakistan cricket team started and ended Down Under. They visited New Zealand at the start of the year for ODIs and T20s and tasted defeat in both formats. Then almost 10 months later on way to Australia Team Green played two Test matches with the Kiwis and lost both. They almost created history against Australia in the first Test match at Brisbane. Chasing a mammoth 490 in the fourth inning, Misbah’s men came within a whisker of achieving immortality and eventually fell 39 runs short. It was a world class effort and the players showed tremendous commitment and resilience. Although a defeat is a defeat whichever way you look at it, the manner in which they lost was very surprising; normally, you would expect Pakistan team to just roll over and play dead in such situations but they showed character, which was refreshing.
The year offered mixed feelings to Pakistan cricket fans. The Test team reached unprecedented heights under Misbah as they sat at the pinnacle of the Test Rankings after the tour of England. On the other hand in the ODI and T20 formats, there was not much joy on offer for cricket lovers in Pakistan as far as the national team’s performance was concerned; the successful staging of the inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL) in UAE, however, gave the fans a feeling of optimism. The event was won by Islamabad United under the able leadership of Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq.
Pakistan’s tour of England helped cement Misbah’s reputation as one of the best captains in the history of Pakistan cricket alongside the great Imran Khan. Misbah’s team showed composure and resilience to draw the four-match series 2-2. The hosts’ dominance showed in the ODIs as they trounced Pakistan 4-1; the tour included one T20I, which went the visitors’ way.
The once mighty West Indies came to UAE in September to play three T20Is, three ODIs and three Test matches. The conditions in UAE proved too tough for them to handle and they were rolled over in the ODIs and T20Is. In the Test series also Pakistan had the upper hand as they won the first two matches, but the West Indies ended their tour on a high by beating Pakistan in the last Test. The highlight of the tour was a triple century scored by Azhar Ali. This was only the fourth instance when a Pakistan player had crossed the magical figure of 300; Hanif Muhammad, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan being the other three.
The year 2016 was a year that the West Indian cricket fans won’t forget in a hurry. Not that their team found its lost glory but they showed that when it comes to the shortest format of the game, there aren’t many who can compete the power hitters from the Caribbean; their men and women won the World T20 title. Also, their U19 team won the U19 World Cup in January. So, in spite of the problems that are eating away the West Indian cricket team from the inside, they still managed World titles in a single year which is no mean feat in any sport. And the manner in which they won the World T20 was the stuff fairytales are made of. Requiring 19 runs off the last over and Marlon Samuels on the non-striker’s end at 85 England were perhaps already thinking about the post-match celebrations. But, that’s when Carlos Braithwaite announced his name on the international cricket scene as he absolutely murdered Ben Stokes by slamming four mighty sixes to take his side home with two balls to spare!
A month before the World T20, the Asia Cup T20 event was held in Bangladesh and was a forgettable event for Afridi’s men. The only highlight of the tournament was on blistering Muhammad Amir spell against India. Pakistan batted first in the game and couldn’t cross 100, but what followed was an experience of a lifetime for any cricket fan who takes pleasure in watching a fast bowler ripping through the opposition. Amir was absolutely unplayable that night. It’s not easy to recall such a high octane spell of fast bowling in the short history of T20 cricket. India beat the hosts to take the title.
On side!
Winning two major trophies this year, the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid and then UEFA Euro 2016 in the summer with Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo deservedly it can be said claimed the Ballon d’Or. Ballon d’Or is the highest individual annual award in football. This was the fourth time that Ronaldo has clinched the trophy and is now just one behind archrival Lionel Messi. An international trophy eluded Messi in 2016 also as his star studded national team, Argentina, fell at the last hurdle, finishing second to Chile in Copa America Centenario. Ronaldo’s Portugal, meanwhile, trounced the hosts, France, in the final of Euro 2016. Dimitry Payet and Antoine Greizmann had earlier set the tournament alight with their sparkling performances for the French team. Iceland and Wales were the surprise packages of the event.
2016 was a year of surprises in English football. Those who don’t believe in miracles should have followed the English Premier League’s 2015-2016 season because what Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City did this year was as close to a miracle as you can possibly witness in top level sports. Leicester were 5000/1 to win the EPL title, just to give the readers some idea, betting company Paddy Power were offering 2000/1 that Elvis Presley was still alive! With six games to go in April and Leicester closing in on history online gambling site William Hill were offering $4,659 for each $1.42 bet! Eventually they clinched the Premier League and in some style on the back of some fine performances from lead marksman Jamie Vardy, midfield maestro N’Golo Kanté and PFA player of the year Riyad Mahrez. Manchester United won the FA Cup under Louis Van Gaal, who was sacked later to be replaced by Jose Mourinho. Guardiola took the managerial job at Manchester City, while Antonio Conte took charge of Chelsea. During the summer, Manchester United broke the world transfer record with their £89m purchase of Paul Pogba from Juventus.
FC Barcelona won La Liga for the 24th time; Bayern Munich continued their dominance in Germany by winning the Bundesliga title, while the 2015-2016 Serie A title was won by Juventus. Barcelona hitman Luis Suarez scored 40 goals to claim the European Golden Shoe award. Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League and Sevilla claimed the Europa League title for the third consecutive time. Neymar’s Brazil won the gold in football at the Rio Olympics.
RIO 2016
And of course, 2016 was the year of the Olympics, the mother of all sporting events. The United States of America, as usual, swept the medals table again at Rio. However, since 2008 Beijing Olympics there’s always been this aura and excitement surrounding one particular athlete, we are talking about arguably the greatest sprinter of all time, the one, the only Usain Bolt.
The man never ceases to amaze the audience with his charisma, panache and most of all his world class performances at the biggest of all stages, the Olympics. He claimed gold for the third time in a row in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay.
On one hand there are athletes like Bolt and Phelps and on the other hand there are countries that hardly make it to the Games. Pakistan’s Olympic contingent could be counted on fingers as their hockey team failed to qualify for the event, and their performance... well the less you speak the better!
In the 2016 Asian Games held in India, Pakistan finished third on the medals table behind the hosts and Sri Lanka with 12 golds.
The “not so” National Sport
In regional events Pakistan fared better; they clinched the gold medal in hockey in the 2016 South Asian Games in February, beating India 1-0. The other significant achievement of the national hockey team in 2016 was playing the final of the Asian Champions Trophy against India in Malaysia, which they lost 3-2.
Deuce
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic led the way in Men’s Tennis this year winning two majors each. Djokovic won the first two Grand Slams of the year the Australian Open and the French Open. Murray won at Wimbledon and also claimed the Olympics gold while Stanislas Wawrinka won the last Major - the US Open. Andy Murray ended the year as the number one tennis player in the world for the first time in his career. Women’s title in the Australian and the US Open went to Angelique Kerber. Garbiñe Muguruza came out victorious in the French Open, Monica Puig won the Olympics gold while the Wimbledon crown went to the queen of Women’s Tennis Serena Williams.
Rest of the world
Nico Rosberg became the first Formula1 driver after Alain Prost in 1993 to announce his retirement as the reigning champion. This was Rosberg’s first F1 title; Mercedes won the Constructor’s championship. Team USA claimed the biggest prize in Golf (team event) the Ryder Cup. Chicago Cubs won the World Series title in Major League Baseball by beating Cleveland Indians. LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers claimed the NBA title by beating Golden State Warriors 4-3.
In safe hands?
2016 Men’s World Junior Team Squash Championship was held in August and provided a glimmer of hope for squash lovers in Pakistan as they trounced Egypt 2-1 to claim the title for the 5th time, their first since 2008. This was astonishingly the seventh time in a row that these two teams had qualified for the final!
No more with us...
The word legend has seemingly lost its value due to such frequent usage but a few sports personalities that breathed their last in 2016 were such sporting icons that no superlative in the world could do justice to their achievements.
Pythagoras in boots
First in the month of March, one of the greatest players to grace the game of football, famously known as Pythagoras in Boots, Johan Cruyff, died on March 24, 2016 from Lung Cancer.
The Captain
On October 25, another one of football’s most iconic stars Carlos Alberto Torres died aged 72. Carlos Alberto famously captained the World Cup winning 1970 Brazil team that included stars like Pele and is often regarded as one of the best international sides ever to play football.
Classy Kiwi
Cricket saw the demise of one of New Zealand’s all-time greats Martin Crowe. Crowe was 53; he captained NZ in the 1992 Cricket World Cup and lost to Imran Khan’s Pakistan side in the semis.
The King
September 10 was a sad day for the world of sports, Golf in particular, as one of its greatest ever players Arnold Palmer died at the age of 87. He was nicknamed The King!
The Great Wall of Pakistan
Of course 2016 was the year that the original “Little Master” Hanif Mohammed, one of the first real superstars of cricket in Pakistan left us. Hanif Mohammed was given the “Little Master” title by none else but the great Sir Don himself. His technique was flawless and his determination world class. He was Pakistan’s first player to score a triple century and his score of 337 remains the highest individual Test score by a Pakistani player. This triple hundred was scored in a world record time of more than 16 hours and still remains the longest individual Test inning of all time. It was also the longest ever in First Class cricket and remained so for more than 40 years. Hanif Mohammed’s highest First Class score of 499 that he made playing for Karachi in the 1958-59 season was also a world record that Brian Lara broke in 1994.
Ali...
Finally, had it not been this man I’d have ended this write-up on the legendary Hanif Mohammed, but, because 2016 took away from the world the man declared as the Sports Personality of the last Century it had to be Muhammad Ali. At one time Ali was considered as ‘the most famous man on the planet’. He was a 3-time World Heavy Weight Boxing Champion, he personified sports entertainment during the 70s. Muhammad Ali won the light heavyweight gold at the Olympics in 1960 and turned professional the same year. In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson’s syndrome. He lit the Olympic Torch at the 1996 Games, but, due to Parkinson’s his public appearances became limited and on June 3 this year, Ali breathed his last...
