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Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli (Source: Twitter)
The Indian Cricket Board's annual award ceremony is back after a gap of four years. The event, which will be held in Hyderabad on Tuesday, January 23, is expected to be attended by players from Team India and England along with several former cricketers. The ceremony hasn't taken place since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The winners of the last three years will also reportedly be awarded for their contributions and achievements to Indian cricket. However, the board has not released the official list of award winners. But as per reports, young India sensation Shubman Gill is set to receive the Cricketer Of The Year for his outstanding efforts in the last 12 months.
The 24-year-old was one of the top performers for India across formats in the last year. He was the highest run-scorer in 2023 with 2154 runs at an average of 46.82 from 48 international games. Former India captain Virat Kohli is the only other batter to have scored more than 2000 runs across formats during this phase.
Gill's stats are also decorated with seven ODI centuries, a double century, and a maiden T20I century (126* - the highest T20I score by an Indian). The opening batter was a beast in the 50-over format, where he scored 1,584 ODI runs with five centuries and nine fifties at an average of 63.36 from 29 matches. In fact, he is the only player to have scored more than 1,500 runs in the format in 2023.
The youngster was instrumental in India's victory in the 2023 Asia Cup, finishing as the highest run scorer with over 300 runs. He was part of the 2023 ODI World Cup squad but did not live up to expectations as he had a mediocre outing. Senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah received the award for the best male cricketer in 2019.
Apart from the Polly Umrigar Award for best men’s cricketer, lifetime achievement award, the best international cricketer in women’s cricket for India, best umpire and best domestic side awards are also likely to be presented on Tuesday. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri is reported to be receiving the lifetime achievement award for his long association with the team in multiple roles.