They compete in teams, fighting for the same side, with one opponent to beat. But for this one night in Bangalore, Indian cricketers get to be feted for their individual performances. Yes, it is the night of the BCCI Awards and here are the big winners from the present, the past and even the future.
With the awards following the pattern of rewarding players for the previous seasons, all recipients are being honoured for their returns in the 2015-2016 cricket season (barring R Ashwin of course).
Virat Kohli: Polly Umrigar Award
(For the International Cricketer of the Year)
Also the previous recipient of this award, Virat Kohli picks up the Polly Umrigar Award for the BCCI International Cricketer of the Year, for a third time in Bangalore. He had earlier won the trophy for his performances in the 2011-12 and 2014-15 seasons.
This time round though, he is winning the trophy also for his outings as the full-time Test skipper of the Indian team. In the time span considered for the awards, Virat led India in 8 Test matches and won 5 of them. The skipper himself scored a total of 447 runs, including a century.
In one-dayers, Virat played 13 matches, including those against teams like Australia and South Africa. He scored at an average of 51.92 with 3 centuries.
In T20s, Virat played a whopping 15 matches – scoring 669 runs at an average of 95 runs per innings.
R Ashwin: Dilip Sardesai Award
(For India’s best cricketer in the West Indies series 2016)
Ravichandran Ashwin wins the Dilip Sardesai Award for the second time in his career. The allrounder has bagged the award for his brilliant performance in India’s tour of West Indies in 2016.
The 30-years-old scalped 17 wickets (two-five-wicket hauls) and scored two centuries in the four-match series.
He had won his first Dilip Sardesai Award for the Test series against West Indies in 2011.
Mithali Raj: Jagmohan Dalmiya Award
(Best Woman cricketer (Sr.) of 2015-16)
The Captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, Mithali Raj has been named the best female cricketer for a record third time.
A regular match-winner for India, Raj is being awarded for her performance in the 12 T20s and 11 ODIs she played for India in the 2015-16 season. In 50 over games, she batted at an average of 59 and the team won 7 of the matches that season.
Jalaj Saxena: Lala Amarnath Award
(For the best all-rounder in the Ranji Trophy 2015-16)
In the season that Virat Kohl tried his best to mould Stuart Binny as India’s next Test all-rounder, Jalaj Saxena made his mark in the domestic Ranji Trophy.
In 10 matches, he scored a total of 588 runs and picked up 49 wickets.
He was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the season.
Axar Patel: Lala Amarnath Award
(For the best all-rounder in domestic limited-overs competitions, 2015-16)
Axar Patel has bagged a BCCI award for the second time in his career. He won the U-19 cricketer of the year award in 2014 and this year he has been given the Lala Amarnath Award for the best all-rounder in domestic limited-overs competitions in 2015-16.
The Gujarat lad was the second highest wicket-taker in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the 2015-16 season with 13 wickets. The left-arm off-spinner also picked up 13 wickets in the Indian Premier League last year.
He scored 220 runs in Vijay Hazare Trophy and 111 runs in IPL 2016.
Shreyas Iyer: Madavrao Scindia Award
(Highest scorer in the Ranji Trophy 2015-16)
Mumbai’s Shreyas Iyer wins the Madavrao Scindia Award for being the highest scorer in the Ranji Trophy 2015-16. The 22-year-old smashed 1,321 runs in 11 matches, 442 runs more than his teammate Akhil Herwadkar, who is second on the highest run scorers list.
Iyer, who scored four hundreds and seven fifties in the season, recorded a batting average of 73.38.
In the second match of the 2015-16 season, the top-order right-hand batsman slammed the third fastest double century in the history of Ranji Trophy.
He smacked 200 off 175 balls (Iyer’s highest score in Ranji Trophy) against Punjab at the Wankhede Stadium.
Shahbaz Nadeem: Madhavrao Scindia Award
(Highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy in 2015-16)
Despite Jharkhand reaching just the quarterfinals of the 2015-16 Ranji Trophy season, Shahbaaz Nadeem still managed to finish as the highest wicket-taker of the season.
In 9 matches and 18 innings, Nadeem picked 51 wickets at an average of 19.62. He bowled a total of 80 maidens.
The Complete List of BCCI Award-Winners
Rajinder Goel - Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award
Padmakar Shivalkar - Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award
Shantha Rangaswamyn - BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award For Women
VV Kumar - BCCI Special Award
Late Ramakant Desai - BCCI Special Award
Virat Kohli - Polly Umrigar Award
R Ashwin - Dilip Sardesai Award For India’s Best Cricketer in the West Indies Series 2016
Jalaj Saxena - Lala Amarnath Award For The Best All-rounder in The Ranji Trophy, 2015-16
Axar Patel - Lala Amarnath Award For The Best All-rounder in Domestic Limited-overs Competitions, 2015-16
Shreyas S Iyer - Madhavrao Scindia Award (Highest Scorer in The Ranji Trophy in 2015-16)
Shahbaz Nadeem - Madhavrao Scindia Award (Highest Wicket-Taker in The Ranji Trophy in 2015-16)
Jay G Bista - MA Chidambaram Trophy (Highest Scorer in (U23) Col. CK Nayudu Trophy in 2015-16)
Satyajeet Bachhav - MA Chidambaram Trophy (Highest Wicket-Taker in (U23) Col. CK Nayudu Trophy In 2015-16)
Arman Jaffer - NKP Salve Award (Highest Scorer in (U19) Cooch Behar Trophy in 2015-16)
Ninad Rathva - NKP Salve Award (Highest Wicket-Taker in (U19) Cooch Behar Trophy in 2015-16)
Abhishek Sharma - Raj Singh Dungarpur Award (Highest Scorer in (U16) Vijay Merchant Trophy in 2015-16)
Abhishek Sharma - Raj Singh Dungarpur Award (Highest Wicket-Taker in (U16) Vijay Merchant Trophy in 2015-16)
Mithali Raj - Jagmohan Dalmiya Award (Best Woman Cricketer (Sr) Of 2015-16)
Deepti Sharma - Jagmohan Dalmiya Award (Best Woman Cricketer (Jr) Of 2015-16)
Nitin Menon - Best Umpire in Domestic Cricket In 2015-16
Mumbai Cricket Association - Best Performance In BCCI Domestic Tournaments Of 2015-16
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