Year-ender 2025: A year of highs, lows and surprises for Indian cricket

It was the women’s team that headlined the year with a historic first ODI World Cup win in November.

The Indian cricket team experienced a roller-coaster ride in 2025, reaching the high with Champions Trophy triumph, while the team hit its lowest ebb when they slumped to their second successive home Test series whitewash — a first in its rich history. 

With the scars of the first home Test series defeat at home in 12 years in November 2024, and the defeats to Australia still fresh, the ‘Men in Blue’ had a disappointing start to 2025 with a crushing six-wicket defeat in the New Year Test as they continued to slump on the tour. Not many guessed that the series defeat would mark a generational shift in Test cricket. 

The defeat at Sydney meant India had lost the series Down Under 1-3. Any hope for a place in the World Test Championship final was shattered. 

By the end of the year, things had turned ugly as India endured another Test series defeat at home and there were clamours for the removal of the current support staff and management led by Gautam Gambhir. 

However, it was not just a year of losses as India's men’s and women’s teams gave plenty of opportunities for the fans to celebrate. There were several individuals who made it their breakthrough year, even as some of the greats of the game called it quits. 

Women shine bright 

It was the women’s team that headlined the year with a historic maiden ODI World Cup win in November.

Not many had pinned hopes on the women, even though it was a home World Cup. The 'doubting thomases' had their reasons as India slumped to three straight defeats -- to England, Australia and South Africa, before clinching a must win encounter against New Zealand -- thereby registering their first win against a SENA team in the coveted tournament since 2017. 

Facing seven-time world champions Australia in the semifinal, it was Jemimah Rodrigues’ brilliant century that guided the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team to the highest successful chase in women’s cricket history.

A couple of days later, India were crowned world champions after overcoming the South African challenge in the final.  

Glimpses of such a fight was seen in the ODI series prior to the World Cup when women came close to chasing 413 against the same team. In that match, Smriti Mandhana hammered the fastest century by an Indian — man or woman — in the format, with her ton coming off just 50 balls. India also beat their opponents for the first time since the glory in the 2017 World Cup semifinal.

The year belonged to the vice-captain as she hammered over 1,300 runs and became the only woman who scored more than 1,000 runs in a calendar year. She also broke the Indian record for the most runs in a Women’s World Cup campaign.

Men dominate shorter formats

Fortunately for the men’s team, the red ball debacles was not carried into the white ball formats. India entered the Champions Trophy as favourites with the nucleus of the team being the same that finished as runners-up at the 2023 World Cup. 

Playing at a single venue in Dubai due to bilateral tensions with Pakistan, the Rohit Sharma-led team cruised through the group stage before overcoming Australia in the semifinal and New Zealand in the final in what turned out to be relatively close matches. India became Champions Trophy winners after 12 years. 

The tournament saw the redemption of mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who picked up nine wickets in just three matches. 

He soon proved his prowess in T20Is to become the No.1 ranked bowler in the world later in 2025. His team-mate and opener Abhishek Sharma created history when he reached a rating of over 900 in the format to become the highest-ranked player ever.

Riding on the duo's heroics, Team India made short work of their relatively lower-ranked opponents in the Asia Cup, a tournament that was marred by off-field controversies due to the geopolitical situation with Pakistan. 

In the backdrop of the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent Operation Sindoor, tensions between India and Pakistan had escalated. Amid calls for boycott, the arch-rivals faced-off three times in the tournament, with antics from both sides that drew global attention.  

Adding to the drama, the two teams played a heated final that went down to the wire. It took an extraordinary show of temperament from Tilak Varma as India crossed the line with only a ball to spare. 

Following the Champions Trophy victory, there were questions over the form of veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who now play only the 50-overs game, but the two replied by ending the year at second and first in the ICC player rankings, respectively. 

The Indian team will end the year as the top-ranked team in both the white-ball formats to top another successful season. 

Test cricket: A cause of concern?

While the team tasted tremendous success in white ball formats, Test cricket was a cause of concern. Having played only 10 Test matches, India won just four, including two at home against West Indies, who are no longer the once formidable unit they were once.

While legendary off-spinner R Ashwin retired abruptly in December last year, former captains Kohli and Rohit shocked everyone by deciding not to wear the white flannels again while the Indian Premier League(IPL) was going on in May. Another veteran, Cheteshawr Pujara too soon followed suit. With this, a new dawn began and Shubman Gill was made the captain of a young Test team. 

His first assignment was the challenging five-match series in England. Gill led from the front with over 700 runs on the tour, breaking several decade-old records in the process. 

The new-look Indian team managed to draw the gruelling series (2-2) that saw each of the five matches enter the fifth day. 

However, the joy of the hard-fought series was momentary. India lost yet another home series at home, going down to  world champions South Africa. A shattering 0-2 defeat meant that it was the first time in the history that India suffered back-to-back whitewashes at home. It was also the first time in more than three decades that the team suffered two series losses on home soil within 12 months. 

Fans and aficionados alike bayed for Gambhir's blood and there were suggestions for split coaching. Since the former opener took over from Rahul Dravid, Team India has lost 10 Tests, while winning only seven and drawing two.

Following the retirements of Kohli and Rohit, the team has struggled with continuity and composition. Concerns remain regarding players’ positions not only in the team, but also in the batting line-up. India has had at least five batters at No.3, while Washington Sundar batted at six different places in as many innings that he played.  

With the next Test only eight months away, dust would have settled and the team has an opportunity to start fresh. 

In the shorter formats, India will aim to defend their T20 World Cup title next year, while the buildup for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa will continue.