Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and her deputy Smriti Mandhana, who were central to India's historic 2025 Women's World Cup triumph, and chess prodigy Divya Deshmukh are among the nominees for the 2025 BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year Awards. Captain courageousKaur, the captain of the Indian women's cricket team, led the country to its maiden ICC Women's World Cup title in November 2025. Also Read |Top board: On Divya Deshmukh’s women’s chess World Cup winBorn in Nagpur, Deshmukh started playing chess at the young age of five. At the Asian Shooting Championship, she won a bronze medal in the women's team event alongside Manu Bhaker and Palak Gulia. She also won the 100m hurdles gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships 2025 in Gumi.

Source: BBC February 02, 2026 09:56 UTC