From Royal Challengers Bengaluru's historic first IPL title to star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra finally breaking the iconic 90-meter mark to India women winning their first cricket World Cup, this was the year of long-awaited victories and record-breaking feats.
I'd like India to have extra bowling depth against Australia: Ian bishop
16-year-old Shafali Verma announced her emergence on the global stage by becoming the second highest run getter in the ongoing tournament. She has so far scored 161 runs, hitting 18 fours and nine sixes in four matches, at an astounding strike rate of 161.
Sydney Sixers on Monday confirmed the signing of Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav for the upcoming Women's Big Bash League (WBBL).
Shafali Verma has enjoyed a breakthrough ICC Women's T20 World Cup with the bat but her off-the-field impact has not been lost on captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Verma has scored 161 runs at a stunning strike rate of 161 in Australia, setting the tone for India's four Group A victories with fearless batting despite being in her first global tournament.
If the men of 1983 gave India a reason to dream, the women of 2025 could give it something rarer -- the courage to live that dream in full daylight, under an open sky that finally belongs to them, points out Prem Panicker.
Jemimah Rodrigues produced a sensational knock that included 14 fours as India pulled off the biggest successful chase in women's ODI history with nine balls to spare.
India women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur, her deputy Smriti Mandhana and all-rounder Deepti Sharma were retained in Grade A, the highest category of central contracts offered by BCCI.
India inflicted a crushing 10-wicket defeat on South Africa in the one-off Women's Test in Chennai
Images from the Women's T20 World Cup match between India and Sri Lanka in Dubai on Wednesday.
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be determined to give their home fans a parting victory when they take on a fatigued Delhi Capitals in Bengaluru on Saturday, before the Women's Premier League moves to Lucknow for its third leg.
India opener Smriti Mandhana said she was still struggling to process the magnitude of her team's achievement, calling it "unreal" after India claimed their maiden Women's World Cup title.
Verma, who had regained the top position last week, garnered 26 rating points for her knock in the final
Delhi Capitals produced a splendid bowling effort before their batters, led by Niki Prasad, survived some anxious moments to register a narrow two-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in a last-ball thriller in the Women's Premier League
Clobbered by Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana recently, Australian pacer Megan Schutt says she hates playing against India and doesn't want to bowl at the marauding duo during powerplay when the two teams clash in the Women's T20 World Cup final, in Sydney on Sunday. Schutt, who took a crucial 2/17 in Australia's five-run win over South Africa in the rain-hit semi-final on Thursday, has still not recovered from the drubbing she got at the hands of Verma in the tournament-opener.
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Teen sensation Shafali Verma is set to make her eagerly-anticipated ODI debut as the Indian women's team seeks white-ball course correction against a strong world champion English side in the first game of the three-match series, in Bristol, on Sunday.
Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur lauded Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh after their match-winning knock
India opener Shafali admitted that Sri Lanka are no longer only dependent on their skipper Chamarai Athapaththu.
Far from disappointed at being overlooked for ODIs despite her swashbuckling T20 show, India's teenage batting sensation Shafali Verma says it motivates her to work harder as she knows there is 'something' lacking in her game.
Veteran Mithali Raj's retirement from the T20 format paved the way for the induction of youngsters such as 15-year-old rookie Shafali Verma in the Indian women's team for the upcoming home T20 Internationals against South Africa.
India were forced to follow on after being dismissed for 231 in the first innings, in the opening session on Day 3, of the one-off women's Test against England in Bristol, on Friday.
Smriti Mandhana struck a sublime half-century as India finally produced a good batting display to record a seven-wicket win over Australia in Melbourne on Saturday, keeping their hopes alive for a place in the final of the women's T20 tri-series. Australia posted 173 for 5 courtesy of a quickfire 57-ball 93 from Ashleigh Gardner and Meg Lanning's 22-ball 37 after India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur elected to field at the Junction Oval.
Australia expecting tough contest, under no illusions given India's depth of batting: Nitschke
"I really felt for Shafali Verma at the end, it was tough seeing her in tears but she should be very proud of the way she's performed in Australia," Brett Lee wrote in his column for the ICC.
Dashing opener Shafali Verma smashed 81 off 48 to power India to 178 for 3.
The Indian women's cricket team arrived in Colombo on Tuesday for the Asia Cup T20 beginning in Dambulla on July 19.
Teenager Shafali Verma scored her second consecutive half-century after off-spinner Deepti Sharma starred with the ball as the Indian women's team registered an emphatic 10-wicket win against West Indies in the second T20 International.
India took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, with the final game scheduled to be played in Birmingham on Saturday.
New Zealand sprung a fantastic turnaround to defeat India by three wickets
Invited to bat, Shafali, a regular in the India senior team, and Sehrawat, stitched a 111-run stand for the first wicket.
Images from ICC women's T20 World Cup match between India and Bangladesh, in Perth, on Monday.
India eye maiden women's T20I series win over England; hosts to miss injured skipper Brunt
Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning and Harmanpreet Kaur were some of the big names retained by their respective franchises for the next edition of the Women's Premier League.
Women's cricket is no longer a career option, it would be a calling for the millions of girls, whose parents have remained sceptical about their daughters dreaming about wearing India Blues.
For India, the battle is no longer about proving skill or form, but about crossing the elusive final hurdle that has so often tripped them -- including in this very tournament.
The inaugural edition's winner Mumbai Indians will bank on their core group of players while two-time finalists Delhi Capitals will expect fireworks from Shafali Verma when they face-off in the second game of the Women's Premier League here on Saturday. The finalists of the first WPL in 2023, both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals made it to the knockouts in the second edition last year but lost to the eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the eliminator and the final respectively. Those defeats were certainly not reflective of how well MI and DC had fared until the knockouts stage, with Harmanpreet Kaur's side finishing second in the points table with five wins in eight matches and Meg Lanning's team topping it with six wins in as many outings. The winners of WPL 2023, Mumbai Indians tend to lean on their core group of players both overseas and Indian and a similar approach can be expected this year, with only a few changes taking place in terms of squad composition. India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup recently. Mumbai Indians have let go of England's Issy Wong, who took the first-ever WPL hat-trick in 2023, after the player lost form and the franchise found the leader of their attack in South Africa's Shabnim Ismail. Among domestic talents, another member of the U-19 T20 World Cup winning squad G Kamalini would be one to watch out for, having finished as the third highest scorer in the competition with 143 runs in seven matches. Apart from a strong leader in Harmanpreet, MI have strong figures from other international sides such as Nat Sciver-Brunt (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), as well as South Africans Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon. While Yastika Bhatia is MI's No 1 wicketkeeper-batter, other Indian players in Saika Ishaque, Sajana Sajeevan, uncapped Akshita Maheshwari and Amanjot Kaur will be expected to play their roles to perfection. On their part, Delhi Capitals will be keen to do one better after finishing as runner-up for two times in a row ever since the competition began. One of the most consistent teams in the competition, the Lanning-led Delhi have strong talent base across departments but the key will be to deliver in crucial matches. All eyes will be on the explosive Indian batter Shafali who has responded to her exclusion from the Indian side with runs in domestic cricket. She forms a lethal opening pair with Lanning at the top, while the likes of Australia's Annabel Sutherland, England's Alice Capsey and India's Jemimah Rodrigues form the core of their middle order. All-rounder Sutherland will hope to draw inspiration from her recent success of having struck 163 in the only Test of the women's Ashes followed by winning the highest individual honour in Australian cricket. While Delhi boasts of three wicketkeeper-batters in India's Taniyaa Bhatia, Nandini Kashyap and Scotland's Sarah Bryce, their bowling looks settled with Marizanne Kapp as the leader of the attack, backed by Australia's Jess Jonassen, India's Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey as well as Titas Sadhu.
Five years ago, a starry-eyed Shafali Verma wrestled through a vociferous crowd at the nondescript Lahli ground in Haryana to get a glimpse of her idol Sachin Tendulkar, the moment that inspired the then 10-year-old to take up the game.
Australia A bowlers, led by pace-bowling stalwart Kim Garth, wreaked havoc as India A suffered a demoralising 114-run defeat in the second unofficial T20I in Mackay as the hosts took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Fine half-centuries by Yastika Bhatia, Radha Yadav and Tanuja Kanwar propelled India A to a thrilling series-clinching two-wicket victory over Australia A, after Alyssa Healy's brilliant knock set the bar high for the visitors, in the second women's one-dayer, in Brisbane, on Friday.
