As the new year dawns with its hopes, dreams, and expectations, The Telegraph takes a look at some of the year’s major sporting events.

Mini-World Cup

The venue-related uncertainty finally over, India’s ICC Champions Trophy campaign will be in Dubai and there should be some relief over not having to travel to Pakistan. The conditions in Dubai aren’t at all unfamiliar to the Indian cricketers, while decent crowd support too should be egging them on to bring out their A-game, especially during critical situations. India begin their campaign in this 50-overs-aside contest on February 20 against Bangladesh.

Obviously, their clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 23 will be India’s most-awaited one in the competition, though the former haven’t quite been able to match up with India’s on-field abilities in recent times. On paper, India are a good mile or two ahead of Pakistan. In fact, their toughest game could be that against New Zealand on March 2, with the Black Caps being the more disciplined and consistent side than both Pakistan and Bangladesh. Besides, in ICC events, New Zealand tend to lift their game to another level, making sure to reach the last-four stage at least.

From Group A, India and New Zealand seem to be the favourites to make the semi-finals. However, it remains to be seen, though, as to how many among the current crop of senior players continue till the Champions Trophy as the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia still have a fair bit to reveal. The team selected for the upcoming home limited-overs matches against England will also be an indication.

Among the other teams in the Champions Trophy, Group B appears to be the ‘group of death’ featuring Australia, England, South Arica and Afghanistan. Count the Afghans out at your own peril, especially after their upset wins over England and Pakistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup, which was followed by a semi-final finish in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Best in Test

The World Test Championship final, slated from June 11-15 at Lord’s, will be witnessing South Africa as one of the contestants. But who will be joining the Proteas at Lord’s?

Australia are certainly the firm favourites to do so, considering their 2-1 lead over India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under. India aren’t out of contention yet, as they must win the fifth and final Test in Sydney to keep their prospects of making the final alive.

But then, India have to hope Australia draw both their Tests in Sri Lanka or lose the series.

However, all eyes will be on the South Africans as they get yet another chance to win a world event after coming perilously close to winning the 2024 T20 World Cup final against India, only to mess up in the last four overs of the game. What could give South Africa an edge in this WTC final is their pace bowling unit, which is tenacious and can rip through a batting order if conditions are pacer-friendly.

The only thing South Africa need to look after is their batting department, which still wears a vulnerable look.

English summer

For the first time since the 2002 series, James Anderson, who retired in May 2024, will not be on the field in any of the India-England Tests when both teams face off in a five-match series from June to August. The highest wicket-taker among quicks in Tests, though, could still play a part during those Tests against India if he decides to continue as England’s bowling mentor.

For India, this series, which will also be their first official the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle, could well mark the beginning of a new journey in Test cricket depending on how things transpire in the upcoming final Test against Australia in Sydney. Nonetheless, whether India play the series under a new captain or not,the focus will certainly be on how well Yashasvi Jaiswal adjusts in what would be his first tour of England. The left-hander hasn’t done badly in his maiden Australia tour with a century and a couple of fifties so far.

For England, despite the conditions, it will be interesting to see how the young quicks like Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts -- with Mark Wood likely to spearhead the attack -- fare against an Indian line-up consisting of several stroke-makers. England are also confident of Jofra Archer playing in a Test or two against India.

However, they would seriously pray for the return of captain Ben Stokes by then. Stokes, following the New Zeland tour, is down with a recurring hamstring issue which requires surgery as well.

Bazball Down Under

The last time England had won an Ashes series was back in 2015 at home. Will they be able to regain the Urn when the clash resumes from November 21 in Perth? Or, will the Australians retain it once again?

Even though the Australians couldn’t beat England in England, they still managed to draw the series in 2019 and 2023. At home, England have been their easy prey in recent times.

That said, one is eager to find out the bowling attack Australia go with in the 2025 Ashes. Will captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood form the pace trio with Nathan Lyon being the lone spinner, or will there be any tweak? These bowlers aren’t getting any younger, though.

For the England pacers, the task won’t be too easy in Australian conditions as they rely a fair amount on swing. In that case, Wood and Archer will have a huge role to play and so does promising young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, if selected.

How well Bazball fares in Australia is another interesting prospect. Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, for sure, will try to go after the Australian bowlers, but the key for England will be the form of Joe Root and Harry Brook.

Fifa Club World Cup

The 2025 Fifa Club World Cup will be played in the US from June 14 to July 13. It will be the first under an expanded format with 32 teams, including the winners of the four previous continental championships. Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami are one of the participating teams. A total of 12 venues will be used to host the 63 matches which will be played across the United States, with the final to be played at MetLife Stadium in New York New Jersey and the opening match at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. Teams like Real Madrid, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Neymar’s Al Hilal will be seen in action.

Focus on Neeraj

The World Athletics Championship will be held in Tokyo from September 13 to 21. Neeraj Chopra will defend his title and is expected to face stiff competition from Paris Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem and bronze medal winner Anderson Peters. Neeraj has roped in Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and the current world record holder as his new coach after his long-term German guide Klaus Bartonietz took retirement. “It was an injury-plagued year but the injury is fine now, I will be 100 per cent fit for the new season,” Neeraj said recently. “Technical issues are also there but we will work on them. I will look to improve my technique.” The World Athletics Championship will be Neeraj’s first major test after his silver medal-winning feat at the Paris Olympic Games.

Chess test

The Women’s Chess World Cup will be held in Batumi, Georgia from July 5 to 29. Fide, the game’s world governing body, is yet to announce the dates and venue for the open World Cup. Magnus Carlsen is the defending champion and India’s Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa finished runner-up. India will host the fifth leg of the women’s grand prix series from April 13 to 24.

Hoping for an impact

The 29th edition of the World Championships will be held in Paris from August 25 to 31. India, whose best moment in badminton in 2024 was the triumph of the women’s team at the Badminton Asia Team Championship, will be looking to make some impact at the Paris tournament. The team of Anmol Kharb, Treesa Jolly, Gayatri Gopichand and the talismanic PV Sindhu won India’s maiden continental team title in February. But the rest of the year hardly saw any major success, with the Paris Olympics being specially disappointing. So the likes of Lakshya Sen, Sindhu and Prannoy and doubles pairs of Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty will definitely want to put up a worthy performance at the world meet in Paris. However, apart from Shetty-Rankireddy (who are at present ranked 9th), no other Indian features among the top 10.

The year after the Olympic Games is generally seen as a lean phase in shooting. The next Olympic cycle will begin in the latter part of 2026. The talk in the shooting world is the new Shooting League of India conceptualised by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) in the style of IPL. The league has received the nod from the International Shooting Sport Federation. This will add to the glut of franchise-based leagues in other disciplines that have sprouted in the country following IPL’s roaring success. The auction is slated for March and the league is likely to be held in June. Superstar Manu Bhaker will be the main attraction. NRAI will also host the Junior World Cup in September.