LUCKNOW: Shibman Gill and Deepti Sharma headlined the accolades in the cricket category as they were named ‘Cricketer of the Year’ (Male and Female) at the Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) 2025 on Saturday.Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav and Harmanpreet Kaur bagged the award for Special Recognition in Cricket (Men) and Cricket (Women) respectively.The event, held in Lucknow, recognized athletes in more than 45 sports categories, awarding performance during the assessment period from January 1 to December 31, 2025.This edition reflects a year where Indian cricket recorded strong performances across all formats and tournaments at the global level.For Shubman Gill, 2025 was a phase of consistency and leadership.He won two ICC Men’s Player of the Month awards during the year, becoming the first male cricketer to win the award four times in total. Entering the ICC Champions Trophy as the top-ranked ODI batsman, Gill scored an unbeaten 101 against Bangladesh in the group stage, kick-starting India’s title campaign. He also served as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy in the Asia Cup (T20), where India defeated Pakistan in the final to lift the trophy.In Tests, Gayle took over the captaincy following the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He began his tenure with a century at Headingley, becoming one of the first Indian captains to score a century in his first Test in charge. He followed it up with back-to-back centuries at Edgbaston, including 269 – the highest Test score by an Indian captain – and 161 in the same match, for a total of 430 runs, the second highest in Tests behind Graham Gooch. Gayle also became the third Indian captain to score five Test centuries in a calendar year.In the women’s category, Deepti Sharma produced a key all-round performance in 2025.She was named Player of the Tournament in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup after scoring 215 runs and taking 22 wickets in nine matches. She became the first cricketer to register a double of 200 runs and 20 wickets in one edition of the World Cup. His contribution in the final in Mumbai was instrumental in India winning the title.The winners were selected by an eminent jury of legendary athletes whose achievements have shaped Indian sports.Abhinav Bindra, PR Sreejesh, Mithali Raj, Achanta Sharath Kamal, Leander Pace, and Devendra Jhajharia formed the panel for this edition.Their collective experience ensured that the awards reflect performance at all levels, recognizing the contributions that shaped India’s sporting year.
