India won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025
India suffered a 2-0 whitewash against South Africa in Tests at home
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announced retirement from Tests in 2025
The year 2025 turned out to be a polarized chapter in Indian cricket, defined by some memorable performances and moments and some heartbreaking transitions.
This year, we saw India lifting the ICC Champions Trophy, winning the Asia Cup in records (pun intended) and fighting cricket from a young Test team on the English soil. At the same time, the legendary duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bid a bittersweet farewell to Test cricket following a dip in form, while a humiliating home whitewash at the hands of South Africa exposed deep vulnerabilities in the Indian Test side.
As the dust settles on a turbulent season, let's assess how 2025 reshaped the landscape of Indian cricket while heading into another important year.
India's Test Cricket In 2025
Matches: 10
Wins: 4
Losses: 5
Draw: 1
India started off the year with a loss in Australia in Sydney in the 5th Test of the series. It was a tour that India started on a high after winning the 1st Test in Perth but lost the plot from the 2nd Test and eventually lost the series 3-1, including losing the fifth Test at Sydney.
This was a controversial tour as it exposed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's vulnerabilities in tests, which eventually led to their retirement from Tests before the next England tour.
India went for the England tour with a young skipper, Shubman Gill and without the services of veterans like Rohit and Virat. Not many people had high hopes for this young skipper and the team, but contrary to the popular view, they produced some riveting cricket and levelled a well-fought five-match series by 2-2.
Then came a young West Indies team for a two-match home series, which proved to be a roll over for India, but the vulnerabilities of the Indian Test side were exposed when they were whitewashed by a strong South Africa team at their home in a two-match series. The second whitewash at home in a year brought the glaring technical holes of the Indian test side out in the open and how the Indian team recover from this drubbing at home is something which the Indian fans will be waiting for with anticipation.
India's ODI Cricket In 2025
Matches: 11
Win: 11
Loss: 3
ODI has been India's strongest format for years as they have arguably two of the best ODI batters of history in the form of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. India started their ODI campaign with a 3-0 whitewash against England at home. Then India went on to win the coveted ICC Champions trophy in Dubai under the leadership of Rohit Sharma.
Champions Trophy was in March and after that there was a long-break from the ODIs because of the IPL, England Tour and the Asia Cup. In between the reigns of the ODI captaincy changed hands from Rohit Sharma to Shubman Gill.
In the next ODI series, India registered their first ODI series loss against Australia at their home. It was the comeback series of Virat and Rohit after a long-haul. The duo shined in the last match of the series that India won which again brought happiness among Indian fans who were waiting to witness the duo in the Indian jersey and as play only the ODI format.
India won their last series against South Africa by 2-1 but this series proved out to be one of the most talked about one of the year as Virat Kohli showed why he is arguably called the best ODI batter till date with two back-to-back centuries.
India's T20I Cricket in 2025
Matches: 22
Win: 16
Loss: 3
No Result: 3
India's T20I record in 2025 has been outstanding. They started their year with a thumping 4-1 victory over England at home in February. They played in the Asia Cup in September, which they won without any hiccups.
Then they had two tough series against Australia at their home and South Africa in India. In both these series too, India passed with flying colours and won by 2-1 and 3-1 to end their year on a winning note.
India's Vision For 2026
While India's 2025 was a tale of two halves, in red-ball and white-ball cricket, they would like to put on a more consistent show in 2026. Their first major assignment in 2026 will be the T20 World Cup, which will take place in February-March in India.
India, being the defending champions, will be the favourites to win the title again at home, and a lot would ride on their performance in this tournament.
However, they would also want to improve their performance in the Test format. India is scheduled to have two away Test tours in 2026 to Sri Lanka and New Zealand, and given the contrasting conditions of both these tours, it's not going to be an easy road for the Indian Test side.
