IPL 2025 rewind: A look back at the top three players who defined the season with match-winning performances and consistency.
In a year that witnessed several historic firsts in cricket, the event that captured most attention was the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) finally ending their long-standing title drought. The Bengaluru-based franchise lifted the coveted IPL trophy for the first time in their 18th attempt, turning the tournament into an unforgettable moment for millions of fans.
While this was a collective effort, the tournament as a whole was defined by extraordinary individual performances. Some players consistently rose to the occasion and changed games on their own. Here is a look at the 3 players who made their presence felt in IPL 2025.
Read More: Top three impactful batters in IPL 2025Â
Josh Hazlewood (RCB)
Josh Hazlewood was probably the biggest match-winner for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru during their maiden title triumph in the IPL 2025 season. He ended up as the highest wicket-taker for RCB and the third-highest overall, having scalped 22 wickets in just 12 matches with four three-fers to his name.
He picked those wickets at an average of 17.55 and bowled with an ER of 8.77 in a tournament that was filled with high scores. Hazlewood made an impact in most of RCB’s victories throughout their victorious campaign. The first one was during their opening game, where he picked 2/22 against KKR at Eden Gardens and then starred in RCB’s 50-run win over CSK at the latter’s fortress, Chepauk, taking 3/21 in his four overs.
Then, in a high-scoring thriller against Rajasthan at home, the Aussie pacer proved to be a difference maker as he picked his only four-wicket haul of the season (4/34) before routing the eventual runners-up Punjab Kings with 3/21 in the first Qualifier at Mullanpur. In most of these games, the pacer rattled the top order of the opposition by bowling impeccable line and lengths with the new ball.
His success has directly boosted RCB’s chances of winning games to a large extent, and he was definitely the defending champions’ most valuable player.
Read More: Role of Josh Hazlewood in RCB’s great run in IPL 2025
Suryakumar Yadav (MI)
While the Suryakumar Yadav of today may be struggling with the bat and is short of runs, he was a different beast during the IPL 2025 season. In a season where he largely batted in the No.4 position, Surya notched up 717 runs at an incredible average of 65.13 and a staggering strike rate of just under 170.
In the 16 innings he played in total, Surya never scored less than 25 in any of them, and apart from two knocks, 29 off 26 against CSK and 28 off 26 against RCB, his strike rate never fell below 140 in any of the innings. Such was his consistency that he became just one of the 10 batters in IPL history to score 700 or more runs in a single season. Not only that, the right-hander is the first non-opener to achieve this feat in the IPL.
These numbers are unreal, as most of the players in the top 10 run-getters in IPL 2025 were top-order batters, and Surya batted mostly in the middle-order. The next best batter for the Mumbai Indians was Rohit Sharma, who had made 418 runs, and the third-best was Ryan Rickelton (388). This shows how little support Surya got from the rest of the MI batting line-up.
Read More: IPL 2025: Reasons behind MI’s revival after a slow start
Prasidh Krishna (GT)
Gujarat Titans finished the league stages of IPL 2025 in the third position. The reason was primarily their top-order, who were scoring consistently. They were equally backed by some solid performers in the bowling department. One of them was pacer Prasidh Krishna, who managed to outshine his more experienced teammates, Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada.
The lanky fast bowler picked 25 wickets in the 15 games he played in the season at a decent economy rate of 8.27. This is significantly less than his IPL career ER of 8.77, and he averaged 19.52 with a SR of 14.16, arguably his best-ever numbers in an IPL season.
His impact goes beyond the wickets he has taken. Out of the 14 innings he bowled in the 2025 season and completed his quota of overs, Prasidh has gone seven runs per over or less on 8 of those instances. This is remarkable in a tournament where the scoring rate was high.
Read More: Prasidh Krishna: The most improved player on show in IPL 2025
