Lows
0-3 home series loss to Kiwis
The historic 0-3 loss against visiting New Zealand in a three-Test series rattled the Indian team to the core. The clean sweep also meant India’s impeccable record of not losing a home Test series since 2012 also got broken. The heartbreaking loss severely dented India’s chances of making it to the third consecutive final of the World Test Championship.
Shuttlers’ no-show at Games
Since Saina Nehwal’s bronze in 2012 London Games, badminton had given the country an Olympic medal in each edition. Given their track record and ominous form of their doubles specialists Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu’s knack of winning medals at the biggest platforms, India were confident of keeping their record intact in Paris. Unfortunately, shuttlers turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments at the Games. Lakshya Sen reached the medal round only to lose despite winning the first game.
IOA infighting, NSFs in mess
Off the field, the year will be remembered for infighting in the Indian Olympic Association with the executive members revolting against president PT Usha. Such was the chaos that the International Olympic Committee had to interfere to bring the house in order. The national sports federations, too, followed the suit with most of them being embroiled in controversies. The sports ministry and the Sports Authority of India only added fuel to the fire as they continued to rule with iron fist.
Football downward spiral
Indian men’s football went from bad to worse as two managers combined could not find a single win. The national team went winless -with six losses and five draws – throughout the year. India failed to qualify from the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign in the process. Igor Stimac, who was at the helm since 2019, got sacked. It led to a war of words between All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey and Stimac. Manolo Marquez replaced Stimac but could not change the script.
Women’s cricket team fails to impress
Women’s cricket team failed to qualify for the semifinals of the T20 World Cup for the first time since the 2018 edition. Harmanpreet Kaur-led side lost against New Zealand and Australia in the league phase to bow out.
