Indian men ruled white-ball cricket while South Africa ended decades of hurt by winning the World Test Championship at Lord's.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally lifted their maiden IPL title.
Above all, it was Indias women who won a billion plus hearts by finally adding an ICC World Cup trophy to the cabinet.
India stamped their authority on white-ball cricket in 2025, while South Africa finally shrugged off their long-standing 'bridesmaids' tag to claim Test cricket's ultimate prize. Yet, even as milestones were ticked off and old jinxes laid to rest, the year unfolded under a darkening shadow of geopolitics.
India-Pakistan tensions disrupted the Indian Premier League and the bad blood was evident in the subsequent Asia Cup T20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates, where India refused to accept the winner's trophy from Asian Cricket Council President and Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
India beat Pakistan three times during the politically charged tournament and refused to shake hands with the Pakistan cricketers either at the toss or after the match. Players from both sides made provocative gestures, which invited sanctions from the governing International Cricket Council.
Earlier in March, India won the Champions Trophy in a perfect culmination of their unbeaten run in the 50 overs tournament. It was the first ICC tournament held in Pakistan in nearly three decades but India played all their matches in Dubai, which many saw as an advantage for them.
Similarly, Pakistan played all their matches in Sri Lanka when India hosted the 50 overs women's World Cup.
Harmanpreet Kaur and her team-mates ended India's agonising wait for a maiden women's World Cup title with Jemimah Rodrigues smashing a sensational hundred to upset defending champions Australia in the October 30 semi-final in Navi Mumbai.
South Africa ended decades of hurt and won the World Test Championship beating Australia in the final at Lord's.
For a team often ridiculed for their tendency to bottle it during the knockout stages of ICC tournaments, Temba Bavuma and his men carried no past baggage. Opener Aiden Markram's fourth-innings hundred secured a five wicket victory, ending a long-standing jinx.
'We came in with a lot of belief and a lot of doubters,' Bavuma said after winning the WTC.
'We got ourselves into the final, there were doubters as to the route we took. This win squashes that. Here's an opportunity for us as a nation, divided as we are, to unite.'
South Africa went on to register their first Test series victory in India in 25 years with a 2-0 sweep, proving their WTC success was far from a fluke.
India could not replicate their white-ball success in Test cricket and appear in the throes of a tricky transition after stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma quit the format earlier this year.
In England's case, the issue was not personnel but philosophy.
Their high-risk 'Bazball' approach, built around swashbuckling batting, failed to deliver in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, leaving their Ashes campaign in disarray.
Indian domestic cricket witnessed new champions in the Indian Premier League with Royal Challengers Bengaluru lifting the title for the first time in 18 seasons, ending Virat Kohli's barren streak in the tournament. RCB beat Punjab Kings by 6 runs to lift the trophy in Ahmedabad on June 3.
The triumph was unfortunately overshadowed by a stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy stadium during the team's felicitation, where 11 people lost their lives and more than 30 were left injured outside the stadium while trying to join a party inside the venue.
Vidarbha beat Kerala to lift the Ranji Trophy on March 2, 2025.
In September Rajat Patidar-led Central Zone beat South Zone by six wickets to win the Duleep Trophy after a hiatus of 11 years in Bengaluru on September 15.
Jharkhand ended the year on a high with their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title on December 18.
Ishan Kishan scored a belligerent ton to help Jharkhand to a 69-run victory over Haryana in Pune to cap a fine year for himself. With 517 runs at an average of 57.44 and a strike rate of over 197, Kishan finished as the highest scorer this year in the domestic T20 tournament.
© 2026