2025 Review: From Ro-Ko silencing critics to Verstappen catching up with McLarens, inspirational comebacks in sport

With the year 2025 coming to an end, we take a look back at some of the most iconic sporting moments from the year gone by. In this article, we revisit some of the most inspirational comebacks by athletes across a wide variety of sports, from Shafali Verma starring in a World Cup final from out of nowhere to Carlos Alcaraz’s epic triumph over Jannik Sinner in the French Open final.

Shafali Verma, ICC Women’s World Cup Final

Had it not been for Pratika Rawal picking up an injury while fielding in the ICC Women’s World Cup match against New Zealand in Navi Mumbai, Shafali Varma might have been cheering on for her teammates in front of her television at home, having been left out of the squad. As fate would have it, Rawal was ruled out of the remainder of the tournament due to the injury and Shafali was parachuted into the squad ahead of the knockouts.

And while her promising start in the semi-final against Australia was cut short as she was dismissed for 10 off 5, Shafali was determined to make the opportunity count in the grandest stage of them all – in the World Cup final against South Africa. And from being ignored for the showpiece event initially, Shafali ended up starring in the most historic moment in Indian women’s cricket, winning the Player of the Match award for her all-round performance (87 and 2/36) that helped the Women in Blue finally end their ICC title drought.

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Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were representing India for the first time in seven months during the ODI series against Australia in October, having retired from Tests along the way. And their international comeback came at a time when there were serious doubts over Ro-Ko’s future in the Indian team, despite the two seniors insisting they wanted to play the 2027 ICC World Cup.

Both Rohit and Kohli were dismissed cheaply in the series opener in Perth. Kohli would then register back-to-back ducks while Rohit produced a scratchy fifty in the next game in Adelaide, India conceding the series with a game to spare at this point. The two batting superstars, however, silenced their doubters in style with a vintage, unbroken 168-run partnership for the second wicket that setup a consolation win in Sydney. Rohit, who had struck an unbeaten 121 in that game, was adjudged the Player of the Series award.

The two would carry their newfound form over to the one-dayers against South Africa at home. This time it was Kohli leading the way with two centuries and Rohit slamming a couple of fifties, leaving their naysayers little room for criticism, especially with the two stalwarts now occupying the top-two spots in the ODI batting rankings.

Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner, French Open men’s singles final

After stopping Novak Djokovic on his tracks in the semi-finals, Jannik Sinner – who had recently returned from a three-month doping ban – was marching towards his maiden French Open title after taking a two-set lead against fierce rival Carlos Alcaraz, who was eyeing a second consecutive Roland Garros title.

And while Alcaraz managed to keep the contest alive by taking the third set, Sinner found himself on the verge of sealing his victory in Set 4, where he had raced to a 5-3 lead and had three championship points in hand.

In one of the most dramatic fightbacks ever witnessed in tennis history, the Spaniard not only saved all three championship points, he even raced to a 6-5 lead and later won the tie-breaker 7-3. The drama would continue in the deciding set, which see-sawed from one side to the other all the way to a 10-point super tie-break which Alcaraz ended up winning to complete an emphatic 6–4, 7–6(7–4), 4–6, 6–7(3–7), 6–7(2–10) triumph.

Their battle lasted a whopping five hours and 53 minutes, marking the longest final in French Open history.

England vs Sweden, Women’s Euro quarter-final

Sarina Wiegman’s success story with the England women’s football team continued in 2025 with the Lionesses winning the Euro for the second consecutive time, beating world champions Spain 3-1 on penalties after the two played out a 1-1 draw after extra time.

Their title defence, however, had nearly come to a screeching halt in their quarter-final clash against Sweden, in which Blågult were leading 2-0 and needed to preserve that lead for a little over 11 minutes to knock the defending champions out.

England, however, found a way in the way in the end, with Lucy Bronze and Michelle Agyemang scoring in the space of a couple of minutes to push the knockout fixture to extra time and later the penalties, where they triumphed 3-2 to preserve their hopes of a second consecutive title.

Max Verstappen, Formula 1

Max Verstappen’s hopes of winning the Formula 1 driver’s title for the fifth consecutive year appeared bleak midway during the 2025 season. The Red Bull Racing driver, after all, was trailing McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who was leading the standings at the time, by over a 100 points.

What made it worse for the Dutchman was the fact that he had been beaten by Piastri in his home race in Zandvoort. Red Bull, additionally, were going through a lot of turbulence internally with the exit of team principal Christian Horner. With Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris trailing him by just 34 points at the time, the driver’s championship this year appeared a two-horse race at one point.

The 28-year-old, would go on to highlight why he had won each of the last four F1 seasons in the first place. He won three of the next four races – in Italy, Azerbaijan and the United States. Verstappen then further narrowed the gap with victories in Las Vegas and Qatar and was within reach of the trophy after seizing pole in Abu Dhabi. And in the end, he finished second to Norris by a matter of just two points!