Wisden Names Mitchell Starc and Deepti Sharma as Leading Cricketers of 2025

Kathmandu. The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, considered the bible of world cricket, has announced its top players for 2025, with Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc and Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma claiming the top honors.

Starc, who continues to bowl lethally at the age of 36, has been named the 'Leading Men's Cricketer in the World.' Last year, he took 55 wickets in 11 Tests at an average of 17.32, including a career-best performance of 6 for 6 against the West Indies. Furthermore, he played a decisive role in Australia's Ashes victory by taking 31 wickets.

In the women's category, India's Deepti Sharma has been honored as the 'Leading Women's Player.' She delivered a stellar performance to lead India to a historic title victory in the ODI World Cup held on home soil last November.

She scored 215 runs and took 22 wickets throughout the tournament. Notably, in the final against South Africa, she played a crucial innings of 58 runs and took 5 wickets for 39 runs, helping India secure a 52-run victory to win their first 50-over World Cup.

The 163rd edition of Wisden also highlights the dominance of Indian male players. Four Indian players—Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, and Mohammed Siraj—have been included in the 'Wisden Five Cricketers of the Year' list.

They played a vital role in drawing the thrilling Test series against England 2-2 last year. Indian captain Shubman Gill also won the Wisden Trophy, receiving the award for the best individual performance of the year for his massive contribution of 430 runs in the second Test at Edgbaston.

Similarly, known for his aggressive batting, Abhishek Sharma has been declared the world's Leading T20 Player. He scored over 1,000 runs in a single calendar year at a strike rate of over 200.

Haseeb Hameed is the only English player to make the list of the five main players of the year. He scored 1,258 runs, including two double centuries, to lead Nottinghamshire to the County Championship title.

However, Wisden editor Lawrence Booth has strongly criticized England's humiliating 4-1 defeat in the Ashes. He commented that the 'Bazball' style of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum has become predictable and stubborn. Booth emphasized that England needs to strengthen its ties with county cricket, which is considered its foundation, and increase access to cricket in state schools.

This year's Almanack also pays special tribute to legendary umpire Dickie Bird, who passed away last September at the age of 92.