Shubman Gill, Smriti Mandhana clinch Cricketer of the Year awards:BCCI felicitates India’s 5 ICC-trophy winning teams at Naman Awards

Shubman Gill and Smriti Mandhana were named ‘Cricketers of the Year’ at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Naman awards in New Delhi on Sunday, 15 March. Legends Mithali Raj, Roger Binny and Rahul Dravid were honoured with Lifetime Achievement awards at the ceremony. The BCCI also felicitated the five Indian teams that won ICC trophies in the past year in men’s and women’s cricket across both the senior and junior levels. Consistent performers in domestic cricket were also celebrated by the BCCI. Shubman Gill wins Polly Umrigar award Gill had a magnificent time in international cricket in 2025, a year which saw him become captain of India’s Test and ODI teams. The right-hander’s first assignment as India’s Test captain was a gruelling five-match Test series in England, which India drew 2-2. Overall, Gill scored 1565 runs with six hundreds in 25 matches across formats. In Tests, Gill hit 991 runs in 10 Tests, 447 runs in 8 ODIs and 127 in seven games. Smriti Mandhana named Best Women’s Cricketer Mandhana had a standout 2025, the highlight of which was India’s historic Women’s World Cup-winning campaign. The left-hander was pivotal in India winning the trophy for the very first time at home, at that too at home. The Indian women’s team vice-captain struck 1800 runs in 36 matches, which included six in ODIs and one in T20Is. Overall, the left-hander hit 1311 runs in three ODIs and 489 runs in 12 T20Is). BCCI honours India’s five reigning ICC trophy-winning teams In what is a historic first, India are defending champions in five ICC competitions in both men’s and women’s cricket across both the junior and senior levels. The Niki Prasad-led Indian team won the U-19 women’s T20 World Cup in 2025, followed by Rohit Sharma and co clinching the ICC Champions Trophy last year. India’s third ICC trophy came last year in the form of a maiden ICC Women’s World Cup title in November. And in just three months in 2026, India have won two ICC trophies. First, it was Ayush Mhatre and his team winning the ICC U-19 World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia, followed by the Men in Blue bagging a record third T20 World Cup trophy just last week.