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Indian Cricket in 2025: Glory, Chaos, or a Crisis in Disguise?

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Rajdeep

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2025 was a year of sharp contrasts for Indian cricket - one that sparked pride, debate, and plenty of discussion among fans.

On one hand, India absolutely owned white-ball cricket. The men’s team lifted the ICC Champions Trophy, stayed dominant in ODIs and T20Is, and added another Asia Cup to an already overflowing cabinet. Big-match temperament, depth in batting, and spin bowling once again proved to be India’s biggest strengths. Performers like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, and Kuldeep Yadav showed why India continues to be the benchmark in limited-overs formats.

The women’s team, however, may have delivered the defining moment of the year. Winning their first-ever ICC Women’s World Cup made 2025 historic. Smriti Mandhana’s consistency and Shafali Verma’s fearlessness symbolized how far the women’s game in India has come - not just competitive anymore, but championship-winning.

But the year wasn’t flawless.

India’s Test cricket took a worrying dip, especially against elite opposition. Heavy defeats, including losses at home, raised uncomfortable questions about preparation, team balance, and whether the red-ball transition is being handled well enough. While white-ball success masked some concerns, Test cricket clearly became the format demanding the most introspection.

The year was also filled with rumours that not all was well in the dressing room between certain senior players and the coach/selection panel. The Test retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli became major talking points. Stripping Rohit of the ODI captaincy soon after he led India to a Champions Trophy win was viewed by many as an unfair move.

Then came the Shubman Gill factor—first being handed both the Test and white-ball captaincy. This was followed by his inclusion in the T20 side, his appointment as vice-captain, the dropping of Sanju Samson to accommodate him, and then his eventual removal from the T20 team altogether, with Samson being recalled. These repeated reversals highlighted a season marked by indecision.

So the question is Was 2025 a great year for Indian cricket, or a warning sign disguised by trophies?

More importantly, what shall we except from Team India going into 2026?
 
We have great year for limited over cricket both in men's and women's cricket but in test cricket we performed very poorly at home as our standards is far far high.

England away test series was Great but losing against South Africa at home was embarassing.

:kp
 
It was a good year for Indian cricket, the loss against South Africa was the only real low point. That said, I would like to see BJP's nepo coach Gautam Gambhir out of the Indian cricket setup as soon as possible. He would be better off continuing bhandaras in his area to build support within his society. :inti
 
T20 team should be in great shape for next 3 or 4 years.we must not include acclaimed statpadders like gill for pr to make the mess.we must win t20 wc , otherwise its a huge blackmark against us.Gambhir was able to crack the winning combo with both kuldeep and varun with a lone pacer.Sky should reinvent himself for wc, otherwise he should be pushed out mercilessly.

Odi team have issues as shown in aus.Rohit and Kohli performed well in india but shown enough issues in aus on tough pitches. Can they sustain the momentum till next wc? Jaiswal scored the century in last odi and it will become a 2 horse race between him and rohit.we need to find out another pace Ar for 27 odi wc .

Test team has the real issues.Not only the team but also the coach is looking out of depth in critical thinking. We need a good test coach. long term planning and development of players for test arena is required.After a memorable drawn series, loosing to sa and jeopardising the wtc chances was most embarrassing stuff.
 
India have already become a mid-tier Test team. I don't see them becoming a top Test team again anytime soon (probably never). :inti

I expect India to become mid-tier in ODI once Kuldeep, Bumrah, Hardik, Kohli, and Rohit retire.
I expect India to become mid-tier in T20 once Hardik, Bumrah, Kuldeep etc. retire.

India' purple patch lasted from 2010 till 2024. I think it is over.

I expect India to decline both in cricket and outside of cricket. Arrogant and spoiled sanghis better get used to with declines.:inti
 
sweep_shot said:
India have already become a mid-tier Test team. I don't see them becoming a top Test team again anytime soon (probably never). :inti

I expect India to become mid-tier in ODI once Kuldeep, Bumrah, Hardik, Kohli, and Rohit retire.
I expect India to become mid-tier in T20 once Hardik, Bumrah, Kuldeep etc. retire.

India' purple patch lasted from 2010 till 2024. I think it is over.

I expect India to decline both in cricket and outside of cricket. Arrogant and spoiled sanghis better get used to with declines.:inti
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India were actually fortunate not to face Pakistan in a 3/5 test series this year. A white wash trashing would have ended quite a few careers in India.
 
gazza619 said:
India were actually fortunate not to face Pakistan in a 3/5 test series this year. A white wash trashing would have ended quite a few careers in India.
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If India face Pakistan in Test now, I expect Pakistan to win.

India have become a mid-tier team in Test.
 
India lost several people in Tests as a cluster. India had to let go of Rohit, Kohli. Ashwin realized he was coming to an end. He is gone. Pant played only intermittently. Injury during middle of match cost India a couple of Tests. It goes through transition period. India played 3 or 4 MCG type of lottery pitches and lost the toss. In LOI they have done very well. India will come back strong in Tests. High point in Tests were in England.
 
gazza619 said:
India were actually fortunate not to face Pakistan in a 3/5 test series this year. A white wash trashing would have ended quite a few careers in India.
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India would have whitewash Pakistan in 5 match series at anywhere in the world .lol

Pakistan is minnow team. Deal with it.

:klopp :kp
 
jnaveen1980 said:
India lost several people in Tests as a cluster. India had to let go of Rohit, Kohli. Ashwin realized he was coming to an end. He is gone. Pant played only intermittently. Injury during middle of match cost India a couple of Tests. It goes through transition period. India played 3 or 4 MCG type of lottery pitches and lost the toss. In LOI they have done very well. India will come back strong in Tests. High point in Tests were in England.
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I wouldn't blame it on just the toss and the pitches. There is a clear skill gap between India and the two top teams - Australia and South Africa. Even NZ are ahead of India right now.

Rebuilding can only begin once you have a clear idea of where you want to go. India don't even have a settled playing XI right now, and in general there are alot of question marks around their Test team.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
I wouldn't blame it on just the toss and the pitches. There is a clear skill gap between India and the two top teams - Australia and South Africa. Even NZ are ahead of India right now.

Rebuilding can only begin once you have a clear idea of where you want to go. India don't even have a settled playing XI right now, and in general there are alot of question marks around their Test team.
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It will hit any team when they go through transition. Last i remeber SA couldn't beat India in SA. They could only draw. INdia beat far better SA team at home convincingly. You think ABDV, Amla had no skill? Just remember India lost their best batsman in the middle of the test could not bat in both innings. That was easily winnable with Gill.
 
Gambhir tried to build test unit like T20 unit. Loading the side with bits and pieces all rounders. And also IPL players instead of proper domestic players. India already tried to let go of Gambhir after 2 series loss. But Laxman refused to take up the coaching. So obviously Gambhir has no clue about coaching.
 
The team w/ all the advantages and resources continued to show that strength in the white ball format but somehow managed to underperform in home tests.
 
KingOfPakBreakfast said:
The team w/ all the advantages and resources continued to show that strength in the white ball format but somehow managed to underperform in home tests.
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They have a record 17 test series wins in a row something nobody can match in history. They sure are allowed a failure or two during transition. Even that could have been prevented had they not prepared lottery pitches which helped toss winners.
 
The more India decline in cricket and outside of cricket, the better it is for cricket world, subcontinent, and Earth itself. :inti
 
jnaveen1980 said:
It will hit any team when they go through transition. Last i remeber SA couldn't beat India in SA. They could only draw. INdia beat far better SA team at home convincingly. You think ABDV, Amla had no skill? Just remember India lost their best batsman in the middle of the test could not bat in both innings. That was easily winnable with Gill.
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If India had the right plan in-place and things were not going according to plan, that would be a different story. but Gambhir and the selectors have shown some remarkably poor judgement with their selections by trying to apply white-ball strategy/tactics to red-ball. The first step to getting on the right track would be selecting the right players, only then can start rebuilding.

Also, fact remains that India are yet to win a series in South Africa so I'm not sure if that analogy exactly works here.
India beat a far better South African side, but that Indian side was far better too. You can't really compare Ashwin, Jadeja, Kohli, Pujara etc. who were just about to hit their respective peaks to this current lot.
 
sweep_shot said:
The more India decline in cricket and outside of cricket, the better it is for cricket world, subcontinent, and Earth itself. :inti
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India won 2 ICC events and 1 Asia cup in last 2 years. So there is no question of decline. Yes, there is a worry in test cricket but that is more due to our team in transition and a stupid coach. I guess Indian cricket will remain on top for one more decade.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
If India had the right plan in-place and things were not going according to plan, that would be a different story. but Gambhir and the selectors have shown some remarkably poor judgement with their selections by trying to apply white-ball strategy/tactics to red-ball. The first step to getting on the right track would be selecting the right players, only then can rebuilding begin.

Also, fact remains that India are yet to win a series in South Africa so I'm not sure if that analogy exactly works here. India beat a far better South African side, but that Indian side was far better too. You can't really compare Ashwin, Jadeja, Kohli, Pujara etc. who were just about to hit their respective peaks to this current lot.
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India's home winning streak started in December, 2012 - ended in october 2024. That is a 12 year domination. You think INdia will keep on dominating for the rest of their lives? Look at the people who were responsible for these wins

Ashwin
Jadeja
Mo Shami
Umesh Yadav

India lost a lot of resources. You think India would seamlessly continue dominating without any kind of gelling period? Look at Australia how they still had to persist with useless Khawaja. India lost to England in 2010 when we had Ashwin, Jadeja, Kohli , Tendulkar, Dravid. This was the same thing was being said "INdia will decline once Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman , Kumble leave". Didn't happen did it? India just needs proper test team selection instead of IPL teams driven selection. They will be alright. There are some outstanding domestic players who are being overlooked. They will be better than Kohli, Pujara at test level. For the record Kohli did aboslutely zilch in the last 3 or 4 years. So India already lost him as a player still dominated thanks to all round performance of Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar.
 
22 year old Ravicahndran smaran is already making news. Averaging 78 in First class. 70 in List A. Close to 49 in T20. Playing with Kohli this IPL next season.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
India's home winning streak started in December, 2012 - ended in october 2024. That is a 12 year domination. You think INdia will keep on dominating for the rest of their lives? Look at the people who were responsible for these wins

Ashwin
Jadeja
Mo Shami
Umesh Yadav

India lost a lot of resources. You think India would seamlessly continue dominating without any kind of gelling period? Look at Australia how they still had to persist with useless Khawaja. India lost to England in 2010 when we had Ashwin, Jadeja, Kohli , Tendulkar, Dravid. This was the same thing was being said "INdia will decline once Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman , Kumble leave". Didn't happen did it? India just needs proper test team selection instead of IPL teams driven selection. They will be alright. There are some outstanding domestic players who are being overlooked. They will be better than Kohli, Pujara at test level. For the record Kohli did aboslutely zilch in the last 3 or 4 years. So India already lost him as a player still dominated thanks to all round performance of Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar.
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Did you actually read my post? That's exactly what I said. I didn't say Indian cricket is dead, I said they are applying white-ball tactics to red-ball. As far as the decline is concerned they are already in decline at present. What else would you call getting whitewashed in two home series to New Zealand and South Africa? I'm sure they will bounce back once they get back on the right track by selecting the right players but there seems to be some confusion on your part... India did not lose the series against New Zealand and South Africa because of luck/toss/pitch/injuries - which is what you seemed to be alluding to. They lost because they were beaten by better teams.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Did you actually read my post? That's exactly what I said. I didn't say Indian cricket is dead, I said they are applying white-ball tactics to red-ball. As far as the decline is concerned they are already in decline at present. What else would you call getting whitewashed in two home series to New Zealand and South Africa? I'm sure they will bounce back once they get back on the right track by selecting the right players but there seems to be some confusion on your part... India did not lose the series against New Zealand and South Africa because of luck/toss/pitch/injuries - which is what you seemed to be alluding to. They lost because they were beaten by better teams.
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That is not decline. That is called blip. Decline is something you observed over several years like you see with West Indies. India had a blip in early 2010 as well. Lost 0-8 in England and Austarlia. Then home series loss. This is a cycle. How did they draw in England with a completely new team? Beacuse pitches were not tampered overly Besides India could ahve easily won with Gill in the team. Pant was an atrocious captain as well. During transition these things will happen. India went to South Africa and bowled SA out for 55 runs not long ago. It was Siraj who did that. He is still with us. If what India goes through is decline what does other teams do/ NZ lost to England in their own backyard. NZ has not won in Australia in ages. Pakistan and West indies are both in terminal decline. India dragged Australia to 5th test to win the series that too with absence of their premiered fastbowler.
 
Devadwal said:
India would have whitewash Pakistan in 5 match series at anywhere in the world .lol

Pakistan is minnow team. Deal with it.

:klopp :kp
Click to expand...
Would have, could have, should have. India is the scaredy kitty here 🐱 for running away from test series against Pakistan.
🍭
 
jnaveen1980 said:
That is not decline. That is called blip. Decline is something you observed over several years like you see with West Indies. India had a blip in early 2010 as well. Lost 0-8 in England and Austarlia. Then home series loss. This is a cycle. How did they draw in England with a completely new team? Beacuse pitches were not tampered overly Besides India could ahve easily won with Gill in the team. Pant was an atrocious captain as well. During transition these things will happen. India went to South Africa and bowled SA out for 55 runs not long ago. It was Siraj who did that. He is still with us. If what India goes through is decline what does other teams do/ NZ lost to England in their own backyard. NZ has not won in Australia in ages. Pakistan and West indies are both in terminal decline. India dragged Australia to 5th test to win the series that too with absence of their premiered fastbowler.
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I guess we have very different definitions of the word 'decline'... not sure how much sense it makes to say that a team that has been crap for 20-25 years is still in decline. At what point does decline finally become the new normal - 50-75 years later?
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
I guess we have very different definitions of the word 'decline'... not sure how much sense it makes to say that a team that has been crap for 20-25 years is still in decline. At what point does decline finally become the new normal - 50-75 years later?
Click to expand...
I said this 2 years back. During transition India will lose even home test matches. Because you are assembling a completely new unit. Declining unit would have lost 0-5 in England. Not came away with 2-2 draw. Declining unit would have lost the test series in Australia in 11 days. Not last innings of the last Test. Home series losses are due to lottery pitches and poor team selection. Under Gambhir transition is taking longer because of his T20 style selection. Even mighty Australia after losing their top guns lost 1-3 to England at home, dropped a test to NZ at home. Just wait and watch when Cummins, Starc, Josh leave. They will go through a period where they would lose a few series before bouncing back.
 
ashwin put up an excellent video online, with kimber and a statistician, explaining why the indian team is struggling, but i think having a brain like ashwin outside the xi is why india is struggling. dude thinks about the game deeply, and theres no replacing him in the test set up. once jaddu is gone india will be in total flux as i dont think axar patel, sundar or yadav have the overall red ball game to match those two.

also gambhirs fascination with bits and pieces all rounders and right left combos in tests is a bit wierd, tests have been played for 100+ years and its skills that win you games, not match ups. india also should give sarfraz khan another try. he may have been inconsistent but hes shown appeitite for big innings.

2026 for india will revolve around the fortunes of jaiswal and gill, if these two score runs, india will be ok, if they dont, then the fans will pbly start asking for heads.
 
Ind won some cups that were marred by controversy and allegations of special treatment. So the shine was missing on those trophies.

GG has been a breath of fresh air with the test team though. I like how he managed to initiate the decline of Ind’s test team. Under him ind lost their test fortress which was the cornerstone of their success. Now if SENA teams can come and bully India in India, that should ring alarm bells.

Hubris will meet its end.
 
India has a lot of good players and with the way they didnt think twice about dropping Gill shows there is structual solidity in the system. While bowling stocks are barren, you got world class batsmen. You will be fine in limited overs cricket, test cricket is where i see the real struggle as your mainstay bowlers like Bumrah are entering the “washed up” territory.
 
(y)- Asia cup
Winning Champions Trophy
Women’s World Cup win

(n) -Losing to SA in tests at home


🤷‍♂️- 2-2 draw in England. Not sure if this is a thumbs up, we should have beaten this England team and blew our chance.

The final of Asia cup should have been one sided. Also taking the game vs SL to super over. We should be bulldozing teams in Subcontinent + Middle East. Can’t accept such close run ins.
 
Winning the Women's World Cup was by far the biggest achievement for Indian cricket this year, simply because of the impact it will have in inspiring the next generation of female cricketers in India and taking the sport forward. Nothing the men's team has done this year really compares in size and scope to the India women's team lifting the World Cup at home.
 
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