Team India's 2025 International Cricket Report Card

India Women ended the year 2025 with a memorable 5-0 cleansweep of Sri Lanka in T20Is. It was a memorable year for Indian cricket with two ICC trophies - men's team won the Champions Trophy while the women's team triumphed in the World Cup at home.

Indian cricket went through several highs and very few lows in 2025, in both men's and women's cricket. Several highs included the women's team's maiden triumph in the ODI World Cup at home under Harmanpreet Kaur, while the men's team lifted the Champions Trophy under Rohit Sharma's captaincy. The men's team also lost 0-2 in Tests at home to South Africa, apart from squandering a great chance to win a Test series in England. The fans also had to deal with Test retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, even as the superstar duo shone in the ODI format, winning player of the series award against Australia and South Africa, respectively.

As far as the overall record of the Indian men's team in 2025 is concerned, the men in blue lost only 11 out of 45 matches played at the international level. The Indian cricket team witnessed a change in leadership in the longest format of the game with Shubman Gill taking over after Rohit's retirement. The transition looked smooth during the England tour, but a loss to South Africa at home hurt the most
Rohit and Kohli scoring runs at will in the ODI format reminded fans of their domination from the last decade. As for the T20Is, Suryakumar Yadav struggled for runs even though he led the team well.

Indian men's team performance in 2025

Format    Matches Played    Won    Lost    Draw    No Result
Tests    10    4    5    1    -
ODIs    14    11    3    -    -
T20Is    21    16    3    -    2
How did Indian women's team perform in 2025?

The Indian Women's team was focused mostly on playing ODIs in 2025. The aim was to win the World Cup and despite stuttering multiple times during the tournament, they lifted the trophy at home with Harmanpreet Kaur leading the way. They wrapped up the year with a dominating 5-0 win over Sri Lanka in the shortest format of the game. With the T20 World Cup set to take place in 2026, the team will be hoping to repeat the heroics from the ODI World Cup. The Indian women's team didn't play a single Test in 2025.

Indian women's team performance in 2025

Format    Matches Played    Won    Lost    No Result
ODIs    23    15    7    1
T20Is    10    8    2    -

India had the advantage of playing all of their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai after their refusal to play in Pakistan, the official hosts of the tournament. Familiarity with the conditions was always going to be an advantage, and they ensured to make full use of that.

Rohit’s impressive ODI form continued and Kohli, too, scored an unbeaten ton against Pakistan.

Facing an Australian team with a depleted bowling attack also assisted India to a fair extent in the semi-final clash. However, they still deserved kudos for thriving under pressure in the semi-final and then in the decider against New Zealand, thanks to the likes of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, who maintained their composure in critical junctures.

The wickets taken by senior pacer Mohammed Shami, with the timely strikes from spin duo Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav and their control in the middle overs, were equally crucial for India’s triumph. The Champions Trophy crown certainly came as a relief for the team following a disastrous tour Down Under.

Resistance in England

The five-match Test series in England was not just Shubman Gill’s captaincy debut, but also India’s first longest-format assignment without Rohit and Kohli.

Gill’s Test record prior to the England tour wasn’t great. But from the opening Test itself, with a much stronger defence, Gill asserted himself with incredible consistency, converting most of his starts into three figures as he finished the series with four hundreds.

If not for his defiant third-wicket partnership with KL Rahul who, alongside all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, complemented Gill in terms of consistency, India would have lost the fourth Test in Manchester and the series thereby. They were two down for nothing in their second innings after England had taken a massive 311-run lead.

Following a gritty draw at Old Trafford, India went into the final Test at The Oval with a chance of avoiding a series defeat. Playing without Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj’s lion-hearted effort (5/104) in the second innings, with assistance from Prasidh Krishna, secured India a sensational six-run win even after centurions Joe Root and Harry Brook had helped England race towards the 374-run target.

Importantly, both the Tests India won in their 2-2 draw against England were without Bumrah, and that may not have been possible without Siraj’s critical spells.

Spin disaster

The fight in England and a series win over the West Indies helped India warm up for the challenge against reigning WTC champions South Africa. But on a tricky, challenging Eden Gardens pitch, the current generation of Indian batters’ problems against spin resurfaced.

Before off-spinner Simon Harmer in particular, Indian batsmen came a cropper to lose at the Eden. Even pacer Marco Jansen tormented India despite better batting conditions in the second and final Test in Guwahati. That resulted in yet another home
series defeat for India after their 0-3 drubbing against New Zealand in late 2004.

Their struggles against spin aside, the shot selection of some of the senior batsmen was quite questionable. The embarrassing series defeat also pushed India downwards in the standings of the current WTC cycle.

Missing No.3

Young Sai Sudharsan, making his Test debut on the England tour, was tried at No. 3. So was Karun Nair, who made his Test comeback after eight years. Nair was dumped after the series for not being too effective, but Sudharsan continued, only to flatter to deceive.

Such was the level of cluelessness over the No. 3 slot that even spinner all-rounder Washington Sundar, essentially a lower-order batter, was promoted to that position at the Eden Test against the Proteas. By the time India play their next Test series — in Sri Lanka in August 2026 — the No. 3 slot needs to be sorted.

To end with hope

Unbeaten winners of the Champions Trophy, India extended that run even in the Asia Cup in UAE, beating Pakistan thrice in the competition, including the final. The falling standards of the other Asian teams did make matters a tad easier for the Indians, but they followed that up with a 3-1 T20I home series win over a much stronger South Africa.

In the South Africa T20Is, spinner Varun stepped up once again, proving he’s going to be central to India’s T20 World Cup defence in February and March next year. With the bat, Abhishek Sharma’s Powerplay exploits, Tilak Varma’s temperament and Hardik Pandya’s all-round skills, particularly his ability the bat in the slog overs, certainly keep India in good stead.

Captain Suryakumar Yadav’s form is a concern, but the overall strength of India’s T20I side does give them more reasons to be confident of a robust defence of their Cup crown.