In the 2021 World of Sports, resplendent Olympics and the scathing IPL battle are top on the card, glad that the Covid-19 pandemic didn't play a major spoilsport at these spectacular events and they had successfully driven through the colourful and magnificent conclusions. The tracks and battlefields were busy across the countries as some of the world's iconic seasons were unfolded in 2021, giving it a reason why it should be looked back as we are days ahead of welcoming the New Year.

From the glorious victory of the Chennai Super Kings, golden milestones of the Indian athletes in the Tokyo Olympics, to Kohli's farewell to T20 captaincy, the sporting world had presented sweets, shocks, and surprises in 2021 and seeded hope on how to address and tackle such pandemics in the future, would they become a threat for the global sporting events. Our calendar of 2021 would probably have run fastly when it was for sports as we have had incessant engagements with our favourite games. Let's go for a roundup on the world of sports in 2021, 

CSK's victory in IPL:

Nothing greater than seeing CSK win an IPL trophy, right? IPL 2021 has been put on hold after a few matches due to the outbreak of the second wave of Covid and the fans were waiting for the series to resume. And the day had finally come. It was a fierce battle by all the teams at the hot UAE stadiums. The Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kolkata Knight Riders entered the playoffs, while the Mumbai Indians couldn't make it to the top 4. The final match was between the CSK and KKR. CSK batted first and scored 193 runs, thanks to the brilliant 86 from Faf du Plessis. The KKR fell short by 27 runs and the CSK lifted the trophy for the 4th time. "I still haven't left behind" comment from Dhoni during the presentation for a question about his retirement, made his fans across the globe celebrate in joy.

Olympics:

The Summer Olympics, which was originally scheduled in 2020, was held in 2021 in Tokyo due to the Covid outbreak. It has turned out to be the most successful Olympics for India in history. India bagged 7 medals including 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze. Neeraj Chopra won Gold for India in Javelin Throw and he is being celebrated like anything for making India realize its dreams.

Paralympics:

The Paralympic games gained traction for the first time among the people of India and their support and encouragement reflected in the performance of our players. India won a total of 19 medals in the Tokyo Paralympics with 5 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze. Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win two Paralympic medals, which became a highlight.

T20 World Cup:

Immediately after the IPL, cricket fans were all set to witness the stars of their country feature in the International T20 World Cup. The prestigious series was held in the UAE with all the Covid protocols. India lost their league match with Pakistan and it was a shocker as India was never beaten by Pakistan in the past in World Cup tournaments. India performed poorly in the series getting eliminated before the semifinals. It was Australia, England, Newzealand and Pakistan that qualified for the semis. After the intense semi-finals, Australia and Newzealand clashed in the much-expected finals. Australia kept their cool and defeated Newzealand to lift the T20 World Cup trophy with pride.

COPA America:

Lionel Messi is a champion player but his wait to win a major international trophy was a long one. The year 2021 fulfilled his long time dream as Argentina won against Brazil in the Copa America final. This was a feather on the cap for one of the greatest football players of all time.

Kohli giving up captaincy:

Virat Kohli's calendar was getting hectic and he decided to give up his T20 captaincy. He announced this decision before the T20 World Cup adding that he would do it after the series. There were speculations that things are not smooth between him and the BCCI. Adding fuel to the fire, the BCCI removed him from the ODI captaincy also, bringing Rohit Sharma in his place. Kohli said it was done without his consent and there were some angry exchanges between him and the management. The fans hope that the genius batsman in Virat Kohli would show up once again in 2022 as he is free from the pressure of captaincy, except for Tests.

Harbhajan Singh retirement:

It was in December, the end of the year that the legendary Harbhajan Singh announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The spinner known for his magical doosras has had a wonderful career of 23 years in cricket. Playing for India, he is loved in every part of the country. He was part of the world cup winning Indian team in both T20 and ODI. He has more than 400 wickets to his name in tests and was the first Indian player to pick up a hat-trick in test cricket.