India captain Virat Kohli is all set to receive the Polly Umrigar Award for the best international cricketer in the past two seasons at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s awards ceremony, to be held in Bengaluru on June 12.
While Kohli got the top honours in the men’s category, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana are set to be the first recipients of the award for best international women’s cricketer for the 2016-’17 and 2017-’18 seasons respectively.
“This year we will be presenting awards for the past two seasons and it is going to be a big occasion ahead of the historic Test against Afghanistan,” said Diana Edulji, member of the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators. “For the first time, an award category for the best International Cricketer (Woman) has been introduced and it is a step in the right direction.”
The BCCI has also rechristened four awards in remembrance of its late administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya. The Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy will be presented to the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker in the under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy and to the best junior and senior player in women’s cricket.
Vinod Rai, chairman of the CoA, said, “I congratulate all the winners of the BCCI Annual Awards. The last two years have been fabulous for Indian Cricket with both the men and women’s teams doing very well. We are proud of their achievements and this is our small way of acknowledging their on-field efforts.”
The BCCI has also raised the prize money for nine categories by Rs 1 lakh. The revised prize money is Rs 1.5 lakh.
