Top 8 cricket records broken in 2025
Each sport comprises numerous stats and records. Since the first international cricket match, played back in 1844, many records have been set and broken.
Cricket has also evolved over the years, with improved fitness levels and evolution in styles of play resulting in new milestones being reached and many records being broken.
Here, we take a look at the top eight records broken in 2025 across both men’s and women’s international cricket.
Joe Root clinches the record for most catches taken in men’s Test cricket
The England batting lynchpin is known as a classy and consistent operator, but he is a more than decent fielder as well. In the recently concluded Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy, Root broke the record for most catches taken in Test cricket.
Root now has a total of 213 catches in 158 Test matches, having taken a maximum of four catches in an innings. He surpassed the 13-year-old record of Indian batting great Rahul Dravid’s 210 catches in 164 Test matches.
Smriti Mandhana becomes the first batter to reach more than 1,000 women’s ODI runs in a calendar year
Indian opener Smriti Mandhana has been in exceptional form this year. At the ongoing ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, she recently achieved a rare feat that no women’s player had yet managed.
With her blistering innings of 86 runs against Australia, Mandhana reached the milestone of hitting 1,000+ runs in a calendar year in 18 ODIs, having registered eight half-centuries and four centuries with an average of 59. In doing so, she surpassed a long-standing record of former Australian captain Belinda Clark, who scored 997 runs in a calendar year back in 1997.
Yashasvi Jaiswal becomes the opener with most 150+ scores in men’s Test cricket before turning 24 years old
Since making his debut in July 2023, Indian southpaw Yashasvi Jaiswal has consistently shown his class, talent, and skill at the top of the order, while also managing to maintain a high strike rate.
In the recently concluded Test series against the West Indies, Jaiswal broke Graeme Smith’s unique record for the most 150+ scores by a player aged under 24 in international Test cricket. Jaiswal now has five 150+ scores, surpassing the South African opener’s record of four. He also now has the joint-most centuries (seven) by an opening batter before turning 24, alongside Smith.
India register highest successful chase in a women’s ODI
In the semi-finals of the ongoing Women’s Cricket World Cup, India pulled off quite the heist by chasing a mammoth 339 runs, knocking out, in the process, defending champions Australia in sensational fashion.
In this game, Australia batted first, and thanks to contributions from Phoebe Litchfield (119 off 93), Ellyse Perry (77 off 88), and Ashleigh Gardner (63 off 45), they set a massive, never-before-reached total of 338 for India. However, the much-famed batting line-up of the Women in Blue didn’t disappoint, and with the help of Jemimah Rodrigues’ unbeaten 127 off 134, captain Harmanpreet’s 89 off 88, and crucial cameos from Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh, they cruised to victory, registering a world-record chase with five wickets in hand and nine balls to spare.
Incidentally, in doing so, they broke the highest chase record set by this very same opposition a few days earlier, when Australia chased a target of 331 set by none other than India in the league phase.
England record the biggest win by runs in men’s ODI cricket history
Under the leadership of Brendon McCullum, the England men’s national team are known for their hard-hitting and aggressive batting. In September this year, they recorded the largest margin of victory in ODI cricket against South Africa.
In this game of their home ODI series against the Proteas, England set a mammoth target of 415 runs. Joe Root and Jacob Bethell scored centuries, while Jamie Smith and Jos Buttler scored quick fifties to take them beyond the 400-run mark. In response, South Africa thoroughly wilted under the pressure and were bundled out for a paltry 72 runs in 20.5 overs, suffering a record-breaking 342-run defeat in the process.
The previous record was held by India, who won by a margin of 317 runs against Sri Lanka in January 2023.
Joe Root clinches record for most centuries scored against an opposition at home in men’s Test cricket
England’s batting stalwart now has the second-highest career runs in Test cricket and is looking ever more likely to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record.
Root now also holds the record for scoring the most centuries against an opponent in home Tests — nine centuries against India. He achieved this feat during the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy this year with a century in the fourth Test at Old Trafford.
The previous record was held by the legendary Australian batter Sir Don Bradman, who had eight centuries against his favourite opponents, England.
Mitchell Starc registers the fastest 5-wicket haul in an innings in men’s Test cricket
Already an Australian pace legend, Mitchell Starc broke the record for the fastest five-wicket haul in Test cricket this year. Against the West Indies, the 35-year-old took five wickets in a matter of just 15 balls and ended with figures of 6/9. He also picked up his 400th Test wicket in the process, as Australia decimated the Windies in their own backyard, whitewashing them 3–0 in the three-Test series.
The previous record was a five-wicket haul taken in 19 balls, which was jointly held by three bowlers — Ernie Toshack (1947), Stuart Broad (2015), and Scott Boland (2021).
Smriti Mandhana becomes the fastest player to reach 5,000 runs in women’s ODIs
Smriti Mandhana ranks among the best batters in the world for a reason, having been the epitome of consistency since making her debut in April 2013. This year, not only did she become the first female player to reach 1,000 runs in a calendar year, she also became the fastest woman to 5,000 career ODI runs.
The 29-year-old is only the second Indian batter after Mithali Raj — and just the fifth batter overall — to breach the 5,000-run mark in WODIs. She reached the milestone in only 112 innings, overtaking Jamaican cricketer Stafanie Taylor, who crossed the 5,000-run mark during her 129th outing. She even surpassed men’s batting greats like Virat Kohli (114 innings), Sir Vivian Richards (114 innings), and David Warner (115 innings) in reaching this milestone.
