LUCKNOW: Shubman Gill and Deepti Sharma headlined the honours in the cricket category as they were named ‘Cricketer of the Year’ (Male and Female) at the Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) 2025 here on Saturday.Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav and Harmanpreet Kaur bagged the award for special recognition in the Cricket (Male) and special recognition in Cricket (Female), respectively.The ceremony in Lucknow recognised athletes across more than 45 sporting categories, honouring performances during the evaluation period from January 1 to December 31, 2025.This edition reflected a year where Indian cricket recorded strong performances across formats and tournaments on the global stage.For Shubman Gill, 2025 marked 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 claim the honour four times overall. Entering the ICC Champions Trophy as the top-ranked ODI batter, Gill scored an unbeaten 101 against Bangladesh in the group stage, setting the tone for India’s title-winning campaign. He also served as deputy to Suryakumar Yadav in the Asia Cup (T20), where India defeated Pakistan in the final to lift the trophy.In Tests, Gill took over as captain following the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He began his tenure with a century at Headingley, becoming one of the Indian captains to score a hundred in their first Test in charge. He followed it with successive centuries at Edgbaston, including 269 — the highest Test score by an Indian captain — and 161 in the same match, aggregating 430 runs, the second-highest in a Test after Graham Gooch. Gill also became only the third Indian captain to score five Test centuries in a calendar year.In the women’s category, Deepti Sharma delivered a key all-round performance in 2025.She was named Player of the Tournament at 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 the double of 200 runs and 20 wickets in a single World Cup edition. Her contribution in the final in Mumbai played a role in India winning the title.The winners were selected by an illustrious jury comprising legendary athletes whose achievements have shaped Indian sport.Abhinav Bindra, PR Sreejesh, Mithali Raj, Achanta Sharath Kamal, Leander Paes, and Devendra Jhajharia formed the panel for this edition.Their collective experience ensured that the honours reflected performances across levels, recognising contributions that shaped India’s sporting year.
