One match to sum them all

The year that witnessed the historic 2000th Test was also year that produced many enthralling contests. A few teams progressed to higher levels and automatically pushed a few others off their perch. Test cricket is a game that is said to bring out the essence of a player's character. Sometimes, a similar essence is shown by a team too and one Test match epitomizes how their year was. It was difficult to choose just one match for some teams while it seemed futile to look for even one for some of the others. Bangladesh failed to make notable progress in the year. Their only moment under the sun was an individual achievement. The rise of Shakib Al Hasan to the top of the ICC all-rounders rankings should serve as inspiration for many of his team mates but there is very little else to be written about. West Indies won a lot of hearts through their spirited performances in India and at home against Pakistan but still remain a team that is a far cry from the glorious yesteryears. The emergence of Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo and the resurgence of Fidel Edwards offer them a lot of hope for the coming years. Zimbabwe made a triumphant return to Test cricket with a win against Bangladesh but the gulf between them and the rest showed quite starkly with losses to New Zealand and Pakistan soon after.New Zealand v Australia, 2nd Test Hobart: For Australia, in 2011, their bowlers outshone their batsmen. The experienced men in the Aussie batting line up remained highly inconsistent and thus below par. The bowling wore a new look for almost every series they played but the overall performance remained at a very good standard. In this game the bowling attack, with James Pattinson, in the forefront restricted the Kiwis to a meager total but the batting displayed its brittleness against swing and seam yet again. The last few moments of the game epitomized the year for Australia quite well. The fortunes swung from high to low quite frequently but in the end it was filled with despair and the spirited performance from the young Warner was the only saving grace. New Zealand's year started with an embarrassing home series defeat against Pakistan. Their batsmen displayed similar ineptness in the first innings of this game and were eventually bowled out for a paltry 150. The rise after the series defeat to Pakistan was brought about by a show of steely grit. A hard fought win against Zimbabwe followed under a new guard as Daniel Vettori chose to step down from captaincy. Vettori missed the Hobart Test against Australia due to an injury but the Kiwis were not dispirited. They fought back admirably to first bowl Australia out cheaply in the first innings, proceeded to set Australia a stiff target and eventually won by holding their nerve in the tense final moments. The win showcased the team's resilience and the admirable quality of fighting back when pushed to a corner.Sri Lanka v Australia, 1st Test, Galle: Sri Lanka, over the last decade or so, have built a reputation of being unassailable at home. They won consistently by playing to their strengths without regret. Rank turners would help their spinners and the batsmen possessed enough class to bat for long periods on the same tracks. The void left by the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan though seems to be too big to fill. The first Test at Galle brought this to the fore where Australia out-batted and out-bowled Sri Lanka in the first innings in conditions that were tilted firmly in favour of the home team. The replacement spinners and a rank dust bowl still do not match up to the exploits of Murali. Herath managed to bag a five-fer but this could not prevent a comprehensive 125 run defeat. A defeat at the end of which Sri Lanka were searching for a lot of answers. A search that has not ended even at the end of the year. A year in which they failed to win a single Test.England v India, 2nd Test, Nottingham: India had a reputation of being slow starters in a series but had shown on many an occasion before that they could come back strongly. It was playing to script in the second Test at Nottingham too. After the loss in the first Test at Lord's, India fought back well to dismiss England cheaply. They then batted well to take the lead too and were on top until tea on the second day. What followed was in essence the passing of the baton or rather the baton being grabbed by England and surging far ahead. England made the big jump from being a really good team to top of the world in this year and fittingly the chief architects of this win made the jump to the big league too. Stuart Broad got a hat-trick and ensured that the gap between India and England remained minimal in the first innings. The England batsmen, led by Ian Bell, drove home the advantage in spectacular fashion by batting positively and making giant strides forward in a short span. Their 544 in the second innings came at nearly five per over. The Indian batting crumbled in the second innings and England had taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. India, embarrassingly, slipped further down in reputation and ranking. The No 1 spot was conceded only after the loss in the third Test but this had been the knockout punch of the series.Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test Dubai: Pakistan was the team that progressed the most in 2011. Their progress has been due to a thorough team effort. The young team, led by Misbah ul Haq, has shown that they are more than willing to stick together in the aftermath of the spot fixing saga. One look at the scorecard of this game will be enough to show just how much of a team effort brought about the win. Just about every member made a notable contribution and Saeed Ajmal, the highest wicket taker in Tests in 2011, was the key to their success in this game too as he picked up 8 wickets against a batting line up renowned to be masters at tackling spin.