This week in cricket delivered a mix of triumphs, records, setbacks, and farewells, capturing the full range of emotion the game offers, from historic milestones to unexpected twists that kept fans hooked throughout.

The final week of October and the start of November have been a rollercoaster ride for cricket fans, with India featuring in the Women's World Cup 2025 Final, Shreyas Iyer's unfortunate injury setback, Prithvi Shaw's record-breaking Ranji Trophy outing, Rohit Sharma achieving No.1 ODI ranking, New Zealand clean sweeping England in the ODI series and other major developments keeping the cricketing world buzzing.

As October ends and November begins, let's take a look at the top cricket highlights of the week that grabbed the headlines and kept fans hooked to the game.

Team India has set up a title clash with South Africa as they aim for the maiden Women's World Cup Triumph at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The Women in Blue qualified for the final after defeating Australia, who were defending champions, by five wickets. India pulled off a record chase of 339, with Jemimah Rodrigues playing a brilliant innings of 127 off 134 balls, while Harmanpreet Kaur played a captain's knock of 89 off 88 balls.

India qualified for the World Cup final for the third time, having previously fallen short in the 2005 and 2017 editions. Having gotten another opportunity to rewrite history, Harmanpreet Kaur and her team will be eager to end the Women in Blue's long-awaited dream of winning the World Cup title and lift the coveted trophy on home soil.

Maharashtra opener Prithvi Shaw, who earlier played for Mumbai, scripted a historic feat in the Ranji Trophy 2025/26 match against Chandigarh. Prithvi recorded the third fastest double century in the history of the Ranji Trophy. He achieved this feat in just 141 balls and played a brilliant, unbeaten innings of 222 off 156 balls, including 29 fours and 5 sixes.

Former India captain Ravi Shastri holds the record for the fastest double century in the Ranji Trophy, achieving the milestone in just 123 balls while playing for Bombay against Baroda during the 1984–85 season. With a 141-ball double century, Prithvi Shaw etched his name among the fastest scorers in Ranji Trophy history.

Team India ODI vice-captain Shreyas Iyer sustained an injury to his spleen while taking a difficult catch of Alex Carey in the third and final ODI of the series at Sydney Cricket Ground. According to the statement by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the internal bleeding was immediately detected and stabilized, thereby improving his condition. The statement further added that the follow-up scan shows significant improvement and was recovering well under the supervision of the BCCI doctors and experts in India and Sydney.

In the third medical statement, the BCCI confirmed that Shreyas Iyer was discharged from St. Vincent's Hospital, but will continue his recovery in Sydney until he is deemed fit to travel back to India. Given the injury, Shreyas Iyer's participation in the home ODI series against South Africa is in jeopardy as he is unlikely to recover in time to regain full fitness before the start of the series.

Ajinkya Rahane and Karun Nair slammed Ajit Agarkar-led selection over their exclusion from the Test squad, especially the ongoing India A Test series. Karun and Rahane are currently playing the ongoing Ranji Trophy season, representing Karnataka and Mumbai, respectively. Ajinkya Rahane, who has yet to make a Test comeback after being dropped following the WTC Final in 2023, dismissed the 'age factor', adding that experienced players should get more chances.

Karun Nair, on the other hand, stated that he 'deserves a lot better' from the selection committee after he was dropped from the Test squad following his comeback in the England tour, wherein he scored 205 runs, including a fifty, at an average of 25.62 in 8 innings. Criticism from Rahane and Karun has reignited the debate over selection transparency and the treatment of experienced domestic performers.

Young aspiring cricketer Ben Austin tragically passed away after the ball struck his neck during a training session at Ferntree Gully in Victoria. He was immediately taken to the hospital in critical condition, but he could not survive after being put on life support. He was just 17 years old when he tragically passed away.

Ben Austin's death sent shockwaves not only across the Australian cricket community but also across the global cricketing fraternity. Ahead of the second T20I at MCG, Australia and India players observed a minute's silence and wore black armbands as a tribute to the young cricketer. Even the Australian and Indian players in the Women's World Cup 2025 match wore black armbands to honour Ben Austin's memory.

Following his match-winning knock of 121 off 125 in the third and final ODI of the series against Australia, Rohit Sharma moved to the top of the Men's ODI Batters' Rankings for the first time in his career. Before the Australia ODI series, the former Indian batter was ranked No.3, but a fifty and a century in the 2nd and 3rd matches, respectively, propelled him to the top.

At the age of 38 years and 182 balls, Rohit Sharma became the oldest batter to become the World No.1 ODI batter, surpassing the previous record of Sachin Tendulkar. Rohit is the fifth Indian batter after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill to become the No.1 ODI batter in the ICC Rankings.

Team India suffered a four-wicket defeat to Australia in the 2nd T20I of the five-match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 30. After posting 125 all out, thanks to Abhishek Sharma's knock of 68 off 37 balls, the Men in Blue failed to defend the total as Australia chased down with 40 balls to spare. 

Mitchell Marsh played a captain's innings of 46 off 26 balls and formed an opening 51-run stand with Travis Head, who scored 28 off 15 balls. Josh Inglis (20) and Mitchell Owen (14) made valuable contributions in the middle order to guide Australia to victory. For India, Jasprit Bumrah (2/26), Varun Chakravarthy (2/23), and Kuldeep Yadav (2/45) picked two wickets each.

New Zealand dominated England throughout the ODI series, securing a convincing 3-0 whitewash, showcasing complete control in all departments. The Kiwis won the series opener by four wickets at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. Half-centuries by Daryll Mitchell (78*) and Michael Bracewell (51) helped New Zealand chase down a 224-run target in 36.4 overs.

In the second ODI, New Zealand won by five wickets. Blair Tickner picked four wickets to help the Kiwis bundle out England for 175 before Rachin Ravindra (56) and Daryll Mitchell (54*)'s half-centuries chased down the 176-run target in 33.1 overs. In the series finale, New Zealand once again dominated the visitors with an all-round performance as they completed the series whitewash with a two-wicket win. Blair Tickner again picked four wickets to bundle out England for 222, while Devon Conway (34), Rachin Ravindra (46), and Daryll Mitchell (44) guided New Zealand's chase with steady contributions.

After winning the ODI series against Bangladesh, the West Indies clean-swept the hosts in the three-match T20I series. In the series opener, the Caribbean side defeated Bangladesh by 16 runs, with Shai Hope (46) and Rovman Powell (44) anchoring the innings to post 165/3 before the bowlers bundled out the hosts for 149. The visitors carried on the momentum into the 2nd T20I, with Alick Athanaze (55) and skipper Shai Hope (52) guiding West Indies to 149 before Akeal Hossian led the bowling attack to bundle out the hosts for 135, sealing the series 2-0.

In the series finale, West Indies registered a five-wicket win over Bangladesh to complete the 3-0 clean sweep dominantly. Skipper Roston Chase (50) and Ackeem Auguste (50) helped the visitors chase down a 152-run target with 19 balls. With this, the West Indies recorded their first-ever clean sweep in a T20I series away from home.

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam overtook veteran Indian batter Rohit Sharma's record of 4231 runs to become the leading run-getter in the history of T20Is. In the second T20I, Babar played an unbeaten innings of 71 off 38 balls in the 111-run chase to surpass Rohit's tally and claim the top spot in the all-time T20I run charts.

Meanwhile, Pakistan clinched the T20I series 2-1 over South Africa following a four-wicket win in the third T20I, wherein Babar Azam played a match-winning knock of 68 off 47 balls. With two consecutive fifties, Babar's total climbed to 4302 runs, including 3 centuries and 37 fifties, at an average of 39.83 in 131 matches.

Just three months before the T20 World Cup 2026, former New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson announced his decision to retire from his T20I career. Kane has not played a T20I match since June last year, as he had stepped down from white-ball captaincy and opted out of a central contract to focus on other formats and franchise commitments. 

In his official statement, Kane Williamson believes it was the right time for him to step away from T20Is and allow the team to have clarity moving forward, especially the T20 World Cup 2026. Williamson retired as New Zealand's 2nd leading run-getter with 2575 runs, including 18 fifties, at an average of 33.44 in 95 matches.

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