Pause, rewind, play: From Pat Cummins silencing Motera to Sheetal Devi, the archer without arms, looking back at 2023’s newsmakers | Sport-others News

For some of India’s top stars, 2023 was the year when they had to pause, reflect and reboot. In some cases, to recover from injuries; in a few others, to rediscover lost form. All in the hope that when the big day comes, they’ll be ready and recharged for the challenge
Silence is golden, the saying goes. It was certainly golden for Pat Cummins and his team when the Aussie captain induced Virat Kohli to play on to his stumps in the World Cup final at the stadium named after the incumbent Indian prime miner.
The stadium, with a capacity of 1.3 lakh, was rendered voiceless and even Kohli took an age to come to terms with what had happened.
The stands that were raucously cheering every run, even though progress was slow, was suddenly hushed into becoming a library.
Make no make, the lakhs that had come through the turnstiles of the Narendra Modi Stadium were there not to witness a sporting contest, but a coronation, the realisation of destiny. And Kohli was the vehicle that was to take them to the promised land.

Twelve years earlier, if India hadn’t won the 50-over World Cup in Mumbai, the sight of Sachin Tendulkar edging Lasith Malinga behind would have been seared into Indian consciousness in the same fashion. But on that day, there was someone else to save the day. On November 19, 2023, the onlookers knew their best bet was gone.
Much of it owed to the grudging respect they have for Australia and the likelihood that they can turn the tables regardless of how far the decks are stacked against them. And their worst fears came true a few hours later, even if not many had stayed back to bear witness.
—Tushar Bhaduri
A race or crime scene
Only one starter in the final of the men’s 100m race. A steeplechaser who kept running after crossing the finish line. And the lone 100m starter failing the dope test a couple of months later.
One of the craziest – and best in its own absurd way – moment of the year came not at any of the glamorous sports events but at a chaotic Delhi State athletics meet, which descended into a total farce because of rampant doping.
The story had crime — with athletes procuring banned drugs — drama, with anti-doping sleuths performing a surprise raid, and dollops of humour. The kind of stuff true crime or satire writers would dig.
There will be winners and losers every year in sports. There’ll always be a performance, largely due to recency bias, that will be hyped as the best ever until the next one follows. But it is unlikely something like this will happen again. For the sake of clean sport, we hope it doesn’t!
—Mihir Vasavda
Archer without arms
We know the story of an archer without a thumb from our epics, but an archer without arms? When the 16-year-old para archer Sheetal Devi from a village in Jammu & Kashmir went to the Asian Games in China, she became the first female archer without arms to compete internationally. But she wasn’t just content participating; she brought home three medals.
She balances the 27.5 kg bow with her right leg pulling the string back using a manual releaser and uses a trigger held in her mouth to shoot the arrow at the target 50m away. Devi, who loved climbing trees in her village in her childhood, has fought her way hard to climb to the top of the archery world.

Ten, ten, ten! Perfect scores! Devi Sheetal shot six consecutive ten rings in the last two rounds at the final of Women’s Ind. Compound and won her first individual gold medal of Asian Games.#Hangzhou #AsianParaGames #HangzhouAsianParaGames #4thAsianParaGames #Hangzhou2022APG… pic.twitter.com/CV40QHpAHm
— The 19th Asian Games Hangzhou Official (@19thAGofficial) October 27, 2023
Devi was born with Phocomelia, a rare congenital disorder that causes under-developed limbs. With her parents Mann Singh and Sakti Devi only owning a small parcel of land in their village, Devi’s skillset as an archer has developed under coaches Kuldeep Vedwan and Abhilash Chaudhary. At Hangzhou, Devi won the women’s team silver with Sarita and mixed team gold with Rakesh Kumar apart from winning the individual gold.
—Nitin Sharma
Stokes: Beautiful, elegant, wow
Tom Blundell is not a household cricketing name. But he had his role in the climax of the most nail-biting Test of the year. With two runs required for an England win at Basin Reserve, the Kiwi wicket-keeper flung to his right and grabbed James Anderson’s ambitious attempt to flick a ball off his hips for the winning runs. It was a horical conclusion to an epic Test. New Zealand was just the second team in the format’s 146-year hory to triumph this scoreline, and only the fourth to prevail after following on.

all measures, this was a gripping Test of skill and thrill, courage and defiance. Joe Root scored a classic hundred, Harry Brook conjured a neoclassical one. Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad produced a spine-tingling exhibition of swing and seam bowling. The match seemed long dead, before Kane Williamson breathed life into the contest with a stirring century. Blundell gritted out a 90 and set England 258 to win. England remained in the game until Neil Wagner took out Ben Stokes and Joe Root in the space of three balls. The lower-order fought on, before Wagner produced the moment and Blundell took the catch of his life.
After the game, Ben Stokes would say: “That game is what Test cricket is about.” Few would disagree, though the game was not eulogized as it should be.
—Sandip G
A lob that shook the world
It wasn’t a threading the needle pass or low volley scooped from the shoe laces, these were a combination of strokes that Mansour Bahrami, tennis’s trick-shot art, plays. A delicate drop, followed a perfect lob – Carlos Alcaraz came up with in July of 2023 and the world hailed him as a tennis great in the making, an heir apparent to his country mate Rafa Nadal. This was less about skill and more about audacity and temperament. The drop-lob routine is what players bank on when fooling around on court. It is the best way to ridicule your rival. You laugh your guts off watching the opponent scampers up and down the court, But then who decides to be cheeky when on the most sacred of courts while facing the greatest of all time?
This was the Wimbledon final and on the other side was Novak Djokovic. They had won 2 sets each and Alcaraz was trailing 5-4 in the 5th but had a 15-0 lead in the game. So far the match was a brutal exhibition of power play with both players giving their all. At that stage of the game, Alcaraz got a ball in the centre of the court, he was all set to whip the ball across the net but at the last minute changed his mind and grip to play the drop.

On the circuit, the Alcaraz drop shot has triggered long discussions and intense scrutiny. It was no secret weapon but Djokovic didn’t expect the rookie to show this delightful disrespect for conventional stroke play in the Wimbledon final. The Serb’s quick reflex saw him reach the unexpected drop but while back-tracking to reach the lob he stumbled a bit before giving up. The fuzzy greenish ball sailing over the 6’2″ Djokovic and landing well inside the baseline had a romance of kite flying in the sky or plastic floating in the wind. It also had promise – finally, there was a young tennis star who was less respectful of the Big 3.
—Sandeep Dwivedi
Coming-of-age goal
The goalscorer wasn’t a surprise. The finish was a simple, well-timed tap-in. But what made Sunil Chhetri’s goal against Lebanon in the final of the Intercontinental Cup earlier this year, was the incredible build-up to it.
It was the kind of build-up that in a way symbolises a new era of football in India where players are incredibly composed on the ball, are unafraid to resort to some flamboyant trickery and are raring to have a go at some of the top Asian sides.

India held the seasoned Lebanon side earlier in the tournament and weren’t exactly favourites in the final despite playing at home in Bhubaneswar.
After a fine defensive performance in the first half, India produced a spectacular move to take the lead. It started at the back with the young Anwar Ali passing it to his experienced defensive partner Sandesh Jhingan. He moved the ball forward to find the lithe Lallianzuala Chhangte in the middle of the pitch. The Mumbai City talisman moved it to the right flank, to find Nikhil Poojary, whose backheel nutmeg made the move reel-worthy. Chhangte, who received that pass entered the opposition box, easily went past the defender with a nimble-footed stepover and centred it to Chhetri who did well to anticipate the ball and beat his marker.
The goal essentially showed what the team is capable of and crushed the rhetoric that their play is largely one-dimensional.
—Anil Dias
A six to silence trolls
South Africa were chasing. Those four words are so fraught in a World Cup setting that with 31 needed off 27 against the tournament’s darling applecart upsetters Afghanan, the Proteas were flirting with familiar doom during a tight chase at Ahmedabad in the final league game. A botched pursuit against the Netherlands, a torrid run-chase and a massive defeat against India and Afghanan’s spin stranglers meant disaster lurked. Rassie Van der Dussen battled on, but Andile Phehlukwayo playing his first game, was a proper cat on a hot tin roof against Rashid Khan. Then suddenly he’d had enough of the shackles.
Naveen-ul-Haq steamed in and skimmed a yorker. Phehlukwayo literally liberated his arms in an almighty swing, smacking the ball to long-off to ease pressure. In the next over the fey Afghan bowled, Naveen was welcomed with a swatted pull over square leg the southpaw. And two balls later, Phehlukwayo pulped one dug into the slot for a swatted slap six over deep square leg to finish the match. Shrugging off his gloves meeting Rassie mid-pitch for a f-bump, Phehlukwayo couldn’t stop grinning, pleased with himself for the SIX he hit, with childish glee.

Black cricketers from South Africa cop quite a bit in India, taunted forever brainless trolls who dub them quota picks. Andile Lucky Phehlukwayo grew up wanting to relieve his mother, a domestic worker, off her arduous labour, making something of himself in cricket. A SIX in a tricky run chase to shut down the lippy Naveen and take the Saffers home, was a brilliant moment of unadulterated joy for him. T20s have made the maximums commonplace. But there was no better sight than Phehlukwayo sharing his delight with Rassie, while chuckling away South Africa’s perennial chase monster with a casual, mirthful Six.
—Shivani Naik
Pragging rights
2023 was truly the year of the teenage Indian chess prodigies. If young Gukesh D became the first Indian to overhaul Viswanathan Anand in the published ratings for the first time in 36 years, another teenaged phenom from Chennai, R Praggnanandhaa, raced into the prestigious Candidates tournament finishing second at the uber-competitive FIDE World Cup.
There was a moment at the World Cup that symbolised just how much respect the young Indians are getting from the battle-scarred veterans on the circuit. As Pragg defeated World No 2 Hikaru Nakamura in the tiebreaks, Magnus Carslen, arguably the greatest player ever, scurried over to Pragg to congratulate him. The ex-world champion was still in the middle of his own tiebreaker with Vincent Keymer. But he could not res complimenting the boy who had turned 18 a day ago.
R Praggnanandhaa and Magnus Carlsen during the tiebreaker of the FIDE World Cup final in Baku, Thursday. (Image source: FIDE)
Later when asked what he had said, Carlsen said: “Pragg’s personal coach, Ramesh, is the main coach at a camp in my chess club. Ramesh is always telling the youngsters ‘be like Pragg, be like Pragg’. So I told Pragg that we all want to be like him today,” revealed Carlsen, who is not a man known for being too heavy-handed with compliments.
—Amit Kamath
Wrestlemania
On the day the new parliament building was being inaugurated, there was a commotion in the capital. A few kilometres away from the parliament, the Delhi Police was rounding up protestors preparing to march to that very building, including three of India’s most prominent grapplers in Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia. The trio wanted to bring to attention their accusation that the then Wrestling Federation of India chief was sexually harassing women wrestlers.

It was a defining moment in the protests, one where two Olympic medalls and a multiple-time World Championship medall found out just how unconquerable the fight for some semblance of justice and ownership of the sport they had dedicated their lives to would be. Dragged away before they could reach their final destination, the images coming from Jantar Mantar were a stark contrast to how they were viewed prior to the protests, as champions with glowing pictures on podiums. Now as the year comes to an end, the same set of individuals found positions of power in the newest iteration of the federation, backed unofficially their old head. Sakhi Malik consequently announced her retirement from wrestling. Bajrang Punia returned his Padma Shri award. Phogat has said she will be returning her Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards.
—Shashank Nair
Dilemma: Wedding vs football
Football does crazy things. It can make you forget the place, moment, occasion you are in. Especially in case of last-minute winners. For over a decade — if you are a Gunner, you would understand this more – you haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy football because there was nothing to celebrate about Arsenal. There is no worse feeling than an opposition fan showing empathy. With every passing season, it was only getting worse. A league title looks like a dant dream. The FA Cup titles hardly mattered. There is simply no way up, you think until Mikel Arteta begins to repay the faith.
For the first time since I turned an adult, I finally managed to watch the Arsenal that I fell in love with as a kid. The slick football, the one-touch passes that took away a whole defence line, beautifully constructed goals via midfield maestros…you could see a dream beginning to burn bright.

And nothing epitomised it more than Reiss Nelson’s 97th minute — virtually from the last kick of the game – goal against Bournemouth. It didn’t matter that you were in the middle of a wedding ritual. It didn’t matter that you had already annoyed your in-laws with ‘Oohs’ and ‘Aiyooo’ watching the game on a mobile phone at an auspicious event. When Nelson’s thunderbolt ended back of the net, few things around you had to fly. Before the priest showed a red card, the wife had already handed one. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that City would win the title. We don’t know what is in store in five months. But 2023 would always remain the year that we got our Arsenal back.
—Venkata B Krishna
Jyothi Yarraji’s silver sprint
Even before she took to the track at the Asian Games, Jyothi Yarraji had gone viral on social media as an older race video of hers was wrongly shared some blue tick accounts. It was, so to speak, a false start to her campaign. As it would turn out, there would be a false start controversy on the night of her 100m hurdles final too.
The race was billed as one of the most exciting track and field events because of the India-China clash between three really good sprinters capable of going below 13 seconds.

#AsianGames #HangzhouAsianGames
Athletics: Here’s Jyothi Yarraji with her 100m hurdles silver medal on the podium 🥈👏🏽https://t.co/BV2MgHmzbw pic.twitter.com/Hq0EF00MDH
— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) October 1, 2023
And as the gun went off, the drama began. China’s Yanni Wu, a star of the sport, made an obvious false start and was shown a red card for disqualification. But soon after, Jyothi was shown the card much to her dismay. The Indian protested her case vehemently, pointing to the officials that she was only reacting after Wu and that her hands were on the track long enough to be considered a legal start.
After a few minutes of high drama, both athletes were allowed to compete under protest. And Jyothi had to refocus. Jyothi, despite all the dractions, finished a brilliant race with another sub-13 mark, that originally placed her third. But Wu, who finished, second was later disqualified officially and Jyothi got upgraded to a silver.
It wasn’t the gold she came for, but it was a race she could be proud of for the rest of her career.
“It is important for every athlete to stand up for herself. So I did that,” Jyothi said after the race. For the hurdler, whose bread and butter is to overcome obstacles, Jyothi fought back, stood tall, and earned a famous medal.
—Vinayakk mohanarangan
When Santa Claus didn’t turn up
It’s been a tough year if you are a Manchester United fan. Not only is the club going through its worst start to a season since 1930, already losing 13 matches in all competitions before Chrmas, but they also have to watch their arch-rivals Manchester City win everything there is to win. This includes the elusive treble which had been United’s bragging rights since 1999 with Pep Guardiola’s City equaling the feat in the 2022-23 season.

pic.twitter.com/qgpWNbPpgI
— . (@chelseasecret12) December 13, 2023
The Red Devils were also dumped unceremoniously from the Champions League, that too from a group that included FC Copenhagen and Galatasaray. They conceded 15 goals in the group stage, the most a Premier League club in hory, finishing dead last in the group which ensured that Erik Ten Hag’s men were not even good enough to compete in the Europa League.
Before their 3-2 win against Aston Villa on Boxing Day, United had failed to find the back of the net in 4 consecutive matches. That jinx was broken with Alejandro Garnacho’s brace and Rasmus Hojlund’s first Premier League strike in 15 appearances. Going into 2024, United fans would hope that this was the start of something new and not another false dawn.
—Sayak Dutta
Bangalore pub, famous chant
On first hearing, one could’ve maken the chants from the Chinnaswamy crowd as that of the most famous second name in Indian cricket. But it was 23-year-old Rachin Ravindra, whose name was being sung in Bangalore. How many times have we seen that? A player from a visiting team getting that adulation, in what was only his first World Cup? Born and brought up in New Zealand and identifying himself as a thorough Kiwi, Rachin had been adopted the Indian crowds as one of their own.

Against Pakan, he’d notched up his third ton in the tournament, at the age of just 23. The quickest group of pacers at the World Cup threw it all at him, only for the ball to be met with a flurry of boundaries. That he put up a show in Bangalore, home of his grandparents and birthplace of his father, where the other half of his portmanteau name played most of his cricket, made it all the more special.
It was in a stock exchange bar in this city that Rachin had watched the World Cup final in 2019. The same bar he revisited with his father earlier this year to manifest playing in the sport’s biggest tournament. It was only fitting that he graced his first international match in the city with a ton, in no less than a World Cup.
—Rahul Pandey
Biggest gamble in World Cup
When Pat Cummins said he would bowl first in the Colosseum of Ahmedabad, there would have been many Indian and Australian fans who would have pinched themselves to be assured that what they had heard was right.
For the time till Travis Head picked up arguably the catch of the Tournament of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who, the way, wanted to bat first as well, it felt like a role reversal of the 2003 World Cup final in South Africa.
However, when Cummins got rid of Virat Kohli, the bowling attack kept chipping away with wickets after that to restrict India to a modest total. Through the collapse, there would have come a realization that India was dealing with a man who had taken his team to a World Test Championship triumph and levelled the Ashes away from home not long ago.

However, to take a call as such against a team who were assumed many to have already had their name carved on the prize and are coming on back of five back-to-back wins defending totals with the help of arguably one of the best attacks in the hory of the competition ever was quite a gamble. Though the hawk-like watchers would have noticed that trend in the games in Ahmedabad during World Cup where chasing down targets proved mighty difficult.
Australia’s smiling assassin gave a tactical masterclass, breaking billions of Indian hearts, and scripted an evening that wasn’t supposed to happen.
—Tanishq Vaddi