Shubman Gill, Deepti Sharma LUCKNOW: Shubman Gill and Deepti Sharma headlined awards in the cricket category as they were named ‘Cricket Tester of the Year’ (Male and Female) at the Tech Word News Sports Awards (TOISA) 2025 on Saturday.Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav and Harmanpreet Kaur won the Special Mention in Cricket (Male) and Special Mention in Cricket (Female) awards.The ceremony in Lucknow felicitated athletes in more than 45 sports categories and recognized the performances during the evaluation period from January 1 to December 31, 2025.This edition reflects a year in which 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 Man of the Month awards during the year, becoming the first cricketer to win the award a total of four times. Entering the ICC Champions Trophy as the highest-ranked ODI batsman, Gill scored an unbeaten 101 against Bangladesh in the group stage, setting the tone for India’s title-winning campaign. He also deputized for 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 departure of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He started his tenure with a century at Headingley, becoming one of the Indian captains to score a hundred in his first Test in command. He followed this 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 Test score behind 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 female cricketer to register the double of 200 runs and 20 wickets in a single edition of the World Cup. Her contribution in the final in Mumbai played a role in India winning the title.The winners were selected by a renowned jury consisting of legendary athletes whose achievements have shaped Indian sports.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 awards reflected performances at various levels and recognized the contributions that shaped India’s sporting year.
