This will be the year forever attached to Indian women’s cricket, because it was in 2025 that a dream 50 years in the making was finally realized. Five decades on from their debut at the Women’s World Cup, an Indian team won the prized trophy at last. On a starry night in Navi Mumbai, Harmanpreet Kaur ran backwards in the offside to jump up and take the catch that signaled the final out of the World Cup final, which cleared the Indian dugout and sent a cricket-mad nation into delirium.
After wiping away tears and having wrapper her fingers around the coveted World Cup trophy, Harmanpreet, after acknowledging team-mates past as well as those Indian women cricketers before her, emphatically stated that without winning the tournament “the revolution, the change we want, won’t come”.
It was also telling to listen to Deepti Sharma, named Player of the Tournament for taking the most wickets and scoring 215 runs in the middle order, speak after the final about the need for more matches.
Unfortunately, following that historic victory in the World Cup final, the Indian team is not scheduled to play until mid-February in Australia. It would have been ideal for Harmanpreet and her team-mates to get more visibility, and with it the chance to build on the World Cup success, in a couple of bilateral series soon after the tournament. Because unlike their male counterparts, who play a lot more cricket and are seen on TV in advertisements even when there’s no cricket on, the women need visibility to stay relevant in the public’s eyes.
Whether or not India’s win over South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium on November 2, 2025, goes onto change the women’s game like the 1983 ODI World Cup final or the 2007 ICC World T20 final did the men’s game remains to be seen, but it was by all accounts an epic night.
That this was the most watched Women’s World Cup, and final, indicates just how far the sport has come in India where, let’s not forget, female cricketers were only awarded central contracts in 2017 and a women’s premier league was created in 2023.
And for the likes of Harmanpreet, who ended up on the wrong side of ICC knockouts in 2009, 2010, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2023 – as well ending up with solver to Australia’s gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games – this was a result that erased much pain. Tears flowed down the cheeks of her team-mates as they embraced each other after the final, as well as members of the coaching staff and family present at the ground.
Credit is due to head coach Amol Muzumdar, a man who cruelly never played for India but who has forged a reputation as a solid player manager. His mentorship and guidance of this team was a big reason for its success at the World Cup, which culminated in a moment of history.
India thus ended the year with 15 wins, seven losses and one no-result from 23 ODIs. They played just ten T20Is in 2025, winning eight of them, and not a single Test match. The year ended with a 5-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka in a T20I series, during which Deepti became the leading wicket-taker in the format and Smriti Mandhana the fourth woman to 10,000 international runs.
The signs were there before the World Cup that Harmanpreet’s team was on the right path. Earlier in the year, India beat Ireland Women 3-0 and then lifted a tri-series in Sri Lanka. In July, India won a T20I series 3-2 in England and then triumphed in the ODI leg of that tour 2-1.
In the deciding ODI, Harmanpreet scored 102 off 84 balls – her seventh century in the format – to help get the score to 318/5. England at one stage threatened a record run-chase, but India held on to win by 13 runs.
Then, just weeks before the World Cup, India were beaten 2-1 by Australia at home. But the individual performances from the likes of Pratika Rawal, Mandhana, Deepti, Richa Ghosh and Kranti Gaud signaled plenty of intent before the tournament.
Mandhana finished the World Cup as India’s leading run-getter with 434 at 54.25, followed by her opening partner Rawal who made 308 at 51.33 before an ankle injury ruled her out before the semi-finals. Jemimah Rodrigues went from being dropped midway during the World Cup to playing arguably the most famous innings by a female Indian cricketer in ODIs, a sterling unbeaten 127 to help orchestrate a women’s record run-chase over defending champions Australia in the semi-final.
Deepti finished with most wickets (22) by any bowler at this World Cup and was Player of the Tournament. Shree Charani, at her first major ICC event, claimed 14 wickets and young Kranti took nine, impressing with her pace.
Mandhana towered above all others in 2025 with 1362 runs at an average of 61.90 and a strike-rate of 109.92, scoring five centuries along the way. Rawal was next best with 976 at 51.36. Jemimah scored three centuries in 2025, while averaging 51.40 and striking at 105.18.
Deepti ended 2025 as the leading wicket-taker for India with 39 with a very good economy of 5.12, followed by Sneh Rana (28), Kranti (23) and Shree Charani (23).
In T20Is, Shafali Verma topped the run table with 417 from 10 games, with four half-centuries and a strike-rate of 170. Mandhana was second best with 341 from nine games. In the bowling stakes, Shree Charani finished with 15, one more than Deepti.
