The Indian cricketer Jasprit Bumrah has been honoured with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCi)’s Polly Umrigar Award for Best International Cricketers for the year 2023-24 in the men’s category.
Meanwhile, the opener Smriti Mandhana claimed the corresponding honour in the women’s category. Bumrah was named the ICC test and overall cricketer of the year following an impressive display of precision and relentless consistency in 2024.
He played a pivotal role in India’s home victory against England and Bangladesh. Bumrah has emulated Virat Kohli after winning the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year after delivering stellar performance in 2024.
He also become the first Indian pacer to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Award, playing a crucial role in India’s success in home test summer and T20 World Cup triumph.
He has edged out tough competition from Travis Head, Joe Root and Harry Brook to claim the Sir Garfield Sobers Award.
He will be the fifth recipient of the award from India, after Rahul Dravid (2004), Sachin Tendulkar (2010), Ravichandran Ashwin (2016) and Virat Kohli (2017, 2018).
Bumrah was named as the ICC Men’s Test cricketer of the Year for his standout performance in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 where he picked up 32 wickets.
Meanwhile Smriti Mandhana was named as the ODI Cricketer of the Year after amassing 743 runs in 2024 calendar year.
She registered four ODI centuries a record in the women’s game and struck the boundary over a hundred times, tallying 95 fours and six sixes. She had an ODI average of 57.86 and a strike rate of 95.15.
Meanwhile Sarfaraz Khan and Asha Shobana will be conferred with the Best International Debut – men’s and women’s awards, respectively. Deepti Sharma will be also awarded for returning with the most wickets during the 2023-24 season.
However, Sachin Tendulkar will receive the C.K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award at the ceremony on Saturday, which was supposed to be held in Mumbai, a day before the T20I between Indian and England at Wankhede Stadium.
