Image: Was 2025 a successful year for many teams? / © ESPNcricinfo
Cricket in 2025 has been a year full of redemption arcs when the teams that waited for years got their hands on the coveted trophy. Fans witnessed some of the most heartwarming wins this year, as their teams, who struggled to win a series or tournament, were finally able to do it this time.
They surely had various questions of what-ifs for their teams in the previous seasons, but this time, they got turned into realities. This year in cricket has been like no other, where the giants failed to perform and the underdogs dominated. Whether it’s RCB winning its first IPL title or South Africa ending its ICC title drought, the year has been magical for cricket fans.
Let’s take a look at the cricket teams and the jinx they broke in 2025, making it a year filled with unexpected moments.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy was dominated by India for over a decade, with Australia last winning it in 2014. Ever since that series win, the team has never been able to win against India in the series, whether at home or away. Amidst this, they also lost two home series against India, where Indian captains Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane dominated.
However, the 2025 season started well for the Aussies, as they finally ended the drought of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 11 long years. This time, the BGT was being held in Australia, allowing them to secure a series win. The start surely didn’t favour them, as the team suffered a massive 295-run loss.
With the series being 0-1 after the first match, the team made the best comeback known in the history, as they ended the five-match Test series with a 3-1 win. This allowed Pat Cummins and his company to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2014. Their all-round performances, from players like Scott Boland, Travis Head, Steve Smith, and many more, contributed equally to the team’s win.
With their victory in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the team also sealed itself as the strongest in the Test format, winning all the bilateral series, such as the Ashes, BGT, and the World Test Championship. Captain Pat Cummins once again proved the worth of the Australian side in Test format, with his dominance with the ball, taking 21 wickets.
After several heartbreaks in the 50-over ICC tournaments, such as the 2015 World Cup semi-final, the 2017 Champions Trophy final, the 2019 World Cup semi-final, and the 2023 World Cup final, India finally ended its ODI trophy drought in 2025. The team won its last CT under MS Dhoni and reached the finals in 2017 under Virat Kohli.
Losing to Pakistan in the 2017 finals, India finally got their hands on the Champions Trophy 2025, hosted in Pakistan and Dubai. Under Rohit Sharma, India reached the finals by winning all the group stage matches and also managed to defeat Australia in the semi-final match. Later, they went against New Zealand once again in the finals.
In the final match, New Zealand scored 251 runs, as the Indian spinners perfectly restricted them. Coming out to chase, the captain led from the front, as Rohit scored 76 runs, which was followed by a great finish by KL Rahul. The finish of KL Rahul also made him the hero of the Champions Trophy win, after he received criticism for the 2023 World Cup final loss.
This was another ICC tournament where India remained unbeaten, which also extended their record to 23 wins in 24 matches. Not only was this win historic for the Indian cricket team, but it also marked them as the most successful team in the Champions Trophy history, winning their third title.
Hobart Hurricanes, the team which never won the Big Bash League, despite giving their best, also got the chance to end its title jinx in 2025. The trophy jinx was not only meant to end in the international matches, but the Big Bash League made it extend even to franchise cricket. They finished twice as the runners-up and even reached the playoffs on multiple occasions.
But every time, it ended with some heartbreak and sorrow for the team, as they never got a chance to lift the title. This time, being led by Nathan Ellis, the team played at its best, as they finished in the top spot in the league stages with 7 wins in 10 matches. After defeating the Sydney Sixers in the Qualifier match, they became the first team to reach the finals.
In the final match, the team went against the Sydney Thunder, led by David Warner. Batting first, Thunder posted a total of 182 runs for the loss of 7 wickets, due to an impressive half-century by Jason Sangha. However, Hobart Hurricanes chased the target with 7 wickets and 35 balls remaining, followed by a 108-run knock by Mitchell Owen.
Matthew Wade was able to finish the innings for the team, and Hobart Hurricanes finally got to lay their hands on the coveted BBL title in 14 seasons. The social media was flooded with the team’s first title win in the Big Bash League history, as they suffered from years of relentless trolling from the other team’s fan bases for not winning a trophy in years.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru finally turned their ‘Ee Sala Cup Namde’ to ‘Ee Sala Cup Namdu’ in the IPL 2025 season. Under their new captain, Rajat Patidar, RCB dominated in the league stages of the tournament, finishing in the 2nd spot with 9 wins in 14 matches. In the first qualifier, they secured a massive win over Punjab Kings to mark a spot in the finals.
But the IPL finals had earlier never gone in their favour, with the biggest heartbreak coming in IPL 2016 when the team lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 runs. However, destiny had different plans for number 18, Virat Kohli, to win his first IPL title in 18 years. The final match was played on 3 June between RCB and PBKS at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Batting first, RCB scored 190 runs for the loss of 9 wickets, at a stage when 215 runs looked easy for the team. After the collapse in its batting line-up, the team relied on its bowling line-up, consisting of stars like Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar, Krunal, Dayal, and many more. The most dominant spell was bowled by Krunal Pandya, as he conceded just 17 runs in his spell and even took 2 wickets.
Changing the game towards RCB, the team finally won their first IPL final in 18 years. After the match, Virat Kohli was also seen as emotional for the team’s first title win, as he gave his everything to the franchise, his youth, prime, and much more, which made him deserving to win the IPL final once.
South Africa, the team that got the title of Chokers in the ICC tournaments, finally secured its first ICC title win since the 1998 ICC Knockout, by defeating Australia in the World Test Championship final. After suffering from multiple heartbreaks, such as the 1999 World Cup final, 2015 World Cup semi-final, 2023 World Cup semi-final, and 2024 T20 World Cup final, the team secured its first ICC title win.
After winning consecutive Test matches under Temba Bavuma, the Proteas marked their spot in the World Test Championship final for the very first time. The team went against the defending champions, Australia, at the Lord’s, which is known to be a challenging pitch for the visiting players.
With the match favouring Australia in the first two days, South Africa regained momentum in the next two days. During the fourth innings, the team chased down the target of 282 runs in the first session of the game, marking the second-highest successful chase at Lord’s in Test history. Aiden Markram came out as the hero of the victory, as he scored 136 runs during the chase.
Temba Bavuma, scoring 66 runs in the chase, also became the first Proteas captain to win the World Test Championship and end its ICC title drought. The happiness for the win was so great that even Keshav Maharaj was spotted in tears while having a post-match interview.
With various teams securing wins for the very first time in years, which team’s win was the most anticipated?