Cricket in 2025 delivered its fair share of numbers that stood out for how unusual, improbable or simply fascinating they were. From statistical anomalies to records that bent expectations, these 25 quirky and nerdy stats offer a snapshot of the year through its most eye-catching figures...

1 in 1,048,576 - The probability of losing 20 consecutive tosses - an unwanted record which India now holds by a fair distance in ODIs, a run that started with the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad and ended in their final ODI game of the year in Visakhapatnam. The next worst toss-losing streak in ODIs is 11 by Netherlands between March 2011 and August 2013.

India's next ODI assignment is a three-match series against New Zealand in January, the only one before they play as many 50-over games later in July. In an unlikely event of them losing all three tosses against the Blackcaps, they would have won only one toss in 970 days - roughly 2.7 years - which is literally and effectively, once in a blue moon!

(If you think the above assumption is too wild, India have lost the toss in eight of their last nine Tests to go with the above streak)

2 - Tests in the ongoing Ashes 2025/26 ended within two days. That's the first such instance that two (or more) Tests in the same series finished within two days post World War I. Additional trivia: the last time it happened was in the triangular series featuring Australia, South Africa and hosts England in 1912 - the first ever multi-nation Test tournament. Furthermore, only two of the 450 Tests played in Australia before the start of the ongoing Ashes had ended within two days, and we've now had as many in the ongoing season.

3 - India Women's team won the ODI World Cup 2025 (their maiden title) despite losing three matches in the tournament - the first such instance in the competition's history. It has happened twice (losing three or more matches and winning the title) in the Men's tournament: Pakistan in 1992 and England in 2019.

4 - Ayush Mhatre, Shaik Rasheed, Noor Ahmad and Dewald Brevis - four players in Chennai Super Kings' XII were aged under 22 in their league fixture against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at home on April 25. That's the most players from that age group that they ever fielded in a match - IPL or CLT20. In fact, they never had more than two in a game until the start of IPL 2025. Their recent buys at the mini-auctions hints at more of the same in coming seasons, moving away from their traditional wisdom of experience over everything else.

5 - Gede Priandana, the Indonesia all-rounder, became the first bowler to bag five wickets in an over in T20Is (Men's or Women's) against Cambodia in Bali on December 23. Remarkably, he was the seventh bowler introduced in the innings, and his returns of 5/1 in the only over he bowled makes it the least expensive five-for in the history of Men's T20 cricket. Five of his 28 T20I wickets in a 69-match T20I career came in that over.

6 runs - India's victory-margin at The Oval in what was the decider of arguably the most thrilling Test series of the year, concluding in a thrilling 52-minutes of action on the final day. It is now their narrowest win in Tests, and moreover, it was the first instance of any team winning by fewer than 10 runs defending a 300-plus target in the format.

7 - MI New York won the MLC 2025 despite losing seven out of their 10 league matches, a truly remarkable feat. No other team has ever won a five-plus team T20 tournament with such a low win-loss ratio (0.43 in this case) in the first round (minimum 10 league games).

8 wickets bagged by Bhutan's Sonam Yeshey in the third T20I against Myanmar at Gelephu on December 26, the most any bowler has ever bagged in a professional Men's or Women's T20 game (Global T20 Leagues or internationals).