The victories that defined 2025

A historic cricket World Cup triumph leads a year defined by Olympic resets, challenges in football, and javelin milestones

- Deepti Patwardhan

At the end of it all they stood huddled together. Laughing and crying and hugging and reassuring each other, holding the trophy, kissing it, passing it along. Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami and Anjum Chopra. Three generations of Indian women's cricketers lived the dream as India were crowned the world champions for the first time in front of a packed DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on 2 November.

The current Indian team had won the World Cup, but they hadn't forgotten the women who had broken down doors for them, blazed a trail with their sweat, blood and tears. That acknowledgement, the camaraderie, the respect between India's heroes young and old gilded the glory.

It was the most affirming moment for Indian sport in a year that endured some gutting lows.

After the Paris Olympics in 2024, India was due for a reset, and perhaps a reflection, this year. And the post-Olympic blues showed as some of India's most bankable sports like badminton, shooting and wrestling took time to recover.

It was late June of 2025 before India won a badminton title in singles, through Ayush Shetty at the US Open, and the country managed just one medal—a bronze for Amit Panghal—at the World Wrestling Championships in September in Zagreb, Croatia. After a slow year, Indian shooting picked up in November as the nation bagged 12 medals, including three gold, at the 2025 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Cairo, Egypt.