Five remarkable similarities between India’s 2025 Women’s World Cup win and 2011 Men’s World Cup glory

The ICC Women's World Cup 2025 ended with an iconic moment for Indian cricket, as the Women in Blue lifted their first-ever World Cup trophy. In an exciting final at DY Patil Stadium on November 2, India defeated South Africa to become World Champions. This incredible victory also made India the first Asian country to win the ICC Women’s World Cup in any format, marking a new beginning for women's cricket.

Interestingly, the win from 2025 matches the men’s ODI World Cup victory in 2011 in some fascinating ways. Both wins took place in Mumbai, albeit at different venues, with DY Patil Stadium hosting the women's victory and the Wankhede hosting the men's win. There are five other similarities that are just as interesting about these two historic World Cup winning campaigns for India that show how good India is at cricket.

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Final match happened on 2nd date of the month

On April 2, 2011, the Indian men's cricket team, led by MS Dhoni, made it into the record books as the first team to win the ICC Men's World Cup on home soil. In a spectacular final match against Sri Lanka, Dhoni played an unbeaten innings in which every Indian player pulled together to achieve a moment that millions of Indian fans would remember for generations. The win came after waiting almost 28 years for the title and propelled India into a position of dominance in world cricket for generations to come, inspiring a nation full of fans and future cricketers. 

Fourteen years and seven months later, history repeated itself — this time through the Indian women's team. On November 2, 2025, kicked off by Harmanpreet Kaur, India pulled off a magnificent win to clinch the ICC Women's World Cup title against South African in an electrifying game in front of hundreds of home fans, India’s first all-time women's World Cup title. From women's success on home soil to the dates themselves, the coincidence was exquisite — and this was poetic on many levels, which reflected India's progression in women's cricket.

Indian team played 1 match outside India against an Asian team in 2011 World Cup and Women's World Cup 2025

The 2011 ICC Men’s World Cup occurred in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. India played most of their matches in India, and the combination of friendly conditions and home support was vital to the tournament's success. Under captain MS Dhoni, India miraculously even had one group stage match that took place outside of India — against Bangladesh in Dhaka — which they won, taking the wind in their sails into a successful tournament run. 

Likewise, the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup was co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, with Harmanpreet Kaur’s side playing most of their fixtures at home. Mirroring the 2011 men's pattern, India had an away group-stage match in Colombo, which they dominated over arch-rivals Pakistan. The victory not only was a confidence booster but echoed the consistency and advantage of India’s men’s run in 2011.

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India lost to South Africa and England in the group stage

In the 2011 Men's World Cup, India was dealt a blow to the team's title aspirations in Nagpur when South Africa defeated the Men in Blue in their group stage encounter. Fourteen years later, the Indian women's team lost to South Africa (the Proteas) in their league stage clash in Visakhapatnam. 

During the group stage showdown between India and England in 2011, the fans would talk for years about how a tie happened in Bengaluru. Remarkably, fourteen years later, the women's team would lose to the same opponent (albeit by only four runs) in Indore.  

Indian opener with name starting from 'S' ends as 2nd highest run-scorer

During the men's World Cup in 2011, Sachin Tendulkar led India in runs scored with 482 after nine innings, averaging 53.55 runs per innings. He finished the series second amongst all players in runs scored, and played an integral role in India's first title-winning campaign. 

In 2025, Smriti Mandhana matched Tendulkar's achievement in leading India in runs scored, and originally finished second overall in runs scored, with 434 over nine innings, averaging 54.25 runs per innings. Both players hail from Maharashtra, highlighting the state's historic contributions towards India's leading batters. 

Trophy came after 3 seasons of a T20 league in the nation

The IPL commenced in 2008, and just three years later, India were crowned the Champions at the 2011 Men’s World Cup. Similarly, following the formation of the WPL in 2023, the Indian women’s team were victorious at the 2025 ODI World Cup, a remarkable parallel between milestones in men’s and women’s cricket.

To further add to the coincidence, both Indian Captains played a crucial role in securing their respective championship victory. In 2011, MS Dhoni hit the memorable winning six to give India a title victory, while in 2025, Harmanpreet Kaur displayed her calm under pressure by taking the final catch to guide India to their first-ever Women’s World Cup title in dramatic fashion.