While the white-ball trophy cabinet kept getting heavier, Team India's fortunes in Test cricket swung wildly between hope and despair in 2025.
Triumphant Australia will bid farewell to Usman Khawaja as England look to recover another few scraps of pride when the Ashes series comes to a conclusion with the fifth Test in Sydney from Sunday.
Deepika Padukone turns 40 on January 5, and Namrata Thakker lists the 40 things we love about her.
Juyal's 150 not out fashions 58-run win via VJD method for UP against Assam
As the year draws to a close, Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya takes a look at the hits and misses, the highs and lows, the newsmakers and the dealbreakers in alphabetical order.
'Feeling truly humbled to receive this at a place that will always be home.'
'Jitesh Sharma has shown he is quite a capable player. He can bat lower down the order and look to hit the big shots even with a slightly older ball.'
Alvarez scores twice as Atletico crushes Real Madrid 5-2 in La Liga derby
Kamalini, Vaishnavi two new faces in India Women's squad for T20Is against Sri Lanka
Arsenal missed the chance to go eight points clear at the top of the Premier League in a turgid 0-0 draw with champions Liverpool.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni made the players feel comfortable by backing them, while Virat Kohli's aggression and uncompromising standards proved vital in moments of crisis.
Earlier in the day, the ministry of external affairs "strongly advised" Indians to avoid travel to Iran until further notice, amid rising tensions and protests in the Islamic Republic.
At just 14 years old, Suryavanshi is already one of the most talked-about young cricketers in the world, having first made headlines with an electrifying 35-ball century in the Indian Premier League's 2025 season.
Jannik Sinner was in ominous form on the Rod Laver Arena court he has ruled for two years before the match was cut short.
Top Maoist leader Ganesh Uike and five other red rebels were killed in gun battles with security forces in Odisha's Kandhamal district.
'The writing is on the wall for both Shinde and Ajit Pawar.'
'I believe the spirituality he has imbibed has played a big role in this turnaround. It has played a big role.'
Kartik Karkera didn't just win the Indian men's title at the Tata Mumbai Marathon on Sunday -- he did it in his very first official 42.195 km race
'It's a double-edged sword, but I'm enjoying it.'
Even as the focus remains on the T20 World Cup which is less than a month away, Kohli and Rohit will hog the limelight in the three ODIs over the next seven days.
India opener Shafali Verma's match-winning performance with the bat in the Women's World Cup final against South Africa last month has earned her the ICC 'Player of the Month' award for November.
Turning her guns on the Election Commission, Banerjee alleged that the BJP had "stolen" the mandate in Maharashtra with the poll panel's help and was now attempting to replicate it in Bengal through the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by deleting genuine voters' names.
West Indies players want to make a name, a living but Caribbean is struggling with finances: Chase
Aston Villa secured a 2-1 victory at Basel on Thursday, with goals from Evann Guessand and Youri Tielemans keeping their Europa League campaign on a strong footing.
'Someday I will summit all peaks, but right now I want to complete my BSc.'
'If I were a housewife, it would have been Ok. But I was set in my job and then suddenly I quit.'
Devdutt Padikkal is turning the Vijay Hazare Trophy into a compelling audition for higher honours, registering his third century in four matches to keep his name firmly in the India ODI conversation.
After this snub, it looks difficult for Shubman Gill at this point to make a comeback to the T20 team with plenty of talented young players waiting in the wings.
Harman's record as captain untouchable, she has another 4-5 years to offer: Jhulan Goswami
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak is expected to be sidelined for at least a couple of months after breaking his leg and undergoing surgery.
'They're all going to score because they are naturally gifted players but the real high-risk way of playing, I'm afraid it hasn't worked.'
'There was a lot of humidity. My energy was low. At the end, we decided he (Nawaz) will go for the big shots and I would block. Hats off to Nawaz.'
Former India batter Suresh Raina has backed under-fire national head coach Gautam Gambhir, saying the team's recent poor run in home Tests cannot be attributed to the support staff, as players must shoulder responsibility for the results.
It was a relieved Ben Stokes bidding good riddance to more than a decade of pain for English cricket in Australia on Saturday as his team rallied from the depths to complete a drought-breaking Test win in Melbourne.
A stunning book on the Kumbh. And a recipe.
Indian mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy has extended his lead at the top of the ICC Men's T20I Bowler Rankings, climbing to a new career-high rating.
'A poor candidate was given a chance so that the concerns of ordinary, needy citizens could be represented.'
Zimbabwe will play their group matches in Sri Lanka, where pitches are expected to favour spinners, and Raza was confident that his side has the required skill set in that department.
Starc also pointed out that the wicket did not assist pacers that much with the new ball and expressed concerns over Nathan Lyon's injury on the final day of the Test and the setback to Hazlewood.
Shailesh Jejurikar has 'always made an effort to stay close to his roots.'
