Mandhana, Gill win top BCCI awards

Prolific batters Smriti Mandhana and Shubman Gill were named the Best International Cricketers (Men’s and Women’s) at the BCCI Naman Awards 2026 on Sunday (March 15, 2026), recognising their outstanding performances in the 2024–2025 season.

Gill won the prestigious Polly Umrigar Award, while Mandhana received the award for the fifth time.

For Gill, it was his second Cricketer of the Year award after first winning it in 2023.

Former stars Roger Binny, Rahul Dravid and Mithali Raj were honoured with the Col. C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the BCCI’s highest honour, recognising their outstanding service to Indian cricket.

Gill enjoyed a stellar 2025 and established himself as one of the team’s most dependable batters in the longer formats.

On the tour of England, skipper Gill led from the front in the five-Test series, finishing as the top run-getter with 754 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75.40, including four centuries and a top score of 269.

Gill also played a pivotal role in India’s Champions Trophy triumph last year, having entered the tournament as the No.1-ranked ODI batter in the world. He made an unbeaten 101 against Bangladesh in India’s opening match, and finished the tournament with 188 runs.

Mandhana finished 2025 with 1,703 international runs, including 1,362 in ODIs, the most by any woman in a calendar year. In doing so, Mandhana became the first batter in women’s ODI history to score 1,000 runs in a single calendar year.

Mandhana also made handsome contributions to India’s maiden Women’s World Cup title triumph, aggregating 434 runs in nine matches to end as the tournament as India’s leading run-scorer and the second-highest overall.

Before the World Cup, the left-hander Mandhana smashed a 50-ball century against Australia in New Delhi to register the fastest ODI hundred by an Indian batter, surpassing Virat Kohli’s 52-ball effort.