5 major cricketing events that didn't happen when GTA 5 was launched ft. India winning Women’s World Cup

The highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto (GTA) VI is set to release on November 19, 2026. Rockstar Games first officially announced it in February 2022, and now, after a long wait, the game is a little over a year away from launch.

Its predecessor, GTA 5, was released on September 17, 2013, which means over 13 years will have passed between the two titles. During this period, the world of cricket has transformed with new rules, innovative formats such as T10 cricket and The Hundred, and several teams securing their first-ever championships.

On that note, let’s look at five major cricketing events that hadn’t happened when GTA 5 was launched.

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5 major cricketing events that didn’t happen when GTA 5 was launched

#1 England were still chasing their first ODI World Cup title

The ODI Cricket World Cup was first held in 1975, with the West Indies emerging as the inaugural champions. The origin nation of the game, England, came close in the 1979 edition, but lost in the final to the West Indies.

England once again reached the finals in 1987 and 1992, yet victory continued to elude them. Their long-awaited triumph finally arrived in the 2019 edition, hosted by England and Wales. Under the leadership of Eoin Morgan, they defeated New Zealand on the boundary count rule after the match ended in a tie in both the 50-over game and the Super Over, clinching their maiden World Cup title.

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#2 India had never won a Test series on Australian soil

Team India’s first Test tour of Australia took place in 1947-48, where they lost the five-match series 4-0. Since then, till 2015, India toured Australia 10 more times for Test series but never managed to secure a series win, although they did draw on three occasions.

The team finally created history during their 2018-19 tour Down Under under the leadership of Virat Kohli. India won the four-match series 2-1, marking their first-ever Test series victory in Australia and ending a wait of more than 70 years.

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#3 India’s women were yet to clinch a World Cup trophy

The first edition of the Women’s ODI World Cup was held in 1973, with England emerging victorious after defeating Australia in the final. During the eighth edition in 2005, India recorded their best performance at the time, reaching the final but falling short against Australia.

By 2013, when GTA 5 was launched, 10 editions of the Women’s ODI World Cup had been held, yet India were still searching for their maiden title. That long wait finally ended in the 2025 edition, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. Under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur, India defeated South Africa in the final at Navi Mumbai on November 2, clinching their first-ever Women’s World Cup title.

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#4 The USA hadn’t hosted a World Cup

Another major cricketing milestone that hadn’t occurred when GTA 5 was launched was the United States of America (USA) hosting a Cricket World Cup. This became a reality in the 2024 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup, which the USA co-hosted alongside the West Indies.

The tournament also marked the USA’s debut appearance in a World Cup. The team created history by securing a memorable victory over Pakistan and advancing to the Super 8 stage of the tournament, a remarkable achievement for a nation playing in its maiden World Cup.

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#5 The World Test Championship wasn’t even introduced yet

Back in 2013 when GTA 5 came out, Test cricket didn’t have a world title to fight for. Teams only played bilateral series, and there was no single tournament to decide the best side in the format. That changed in 2019 when the World Test Championship (WTC) was launched. The first final was held in 2021, where New Zealand beat India to become the inaugural champions.

In the next cycle, India made it to the final again but fell short once more, losing to Australia in 2023. Two years later, in the 2025 WTC final at Lord’s, South Africa, under Temba Bavuma’s captaincy, defeated Australia to win their maiden title.