BCCI Awards: Lifetime award for Sachin Tendulkar, Bumrah is best men's cricketer
Mumbai, Feb 1 (PTI): The legendary Sachin Tendulkar, whose batting records and impact on international cricket have stood the test of time, was on Saturday conferred with the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, while current India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was honoured with the Polly Umrigar Award for Best Men's International Cricketer of 2023-24.
The 51-year-old Tendulkar, who played 664 international games for India, holds the record for the highest number of Test and ODI runs in the history of the game.
“Always value your game and take care of your game. I realised on that final day (2013) that I will never walk onto the field as a current India cricketer. Similarly, once you retire then you will realise where you were a few years ago," Tendulkar said during the BCCI's annual awards function.
“So enjoy your game as you have a lot of cricket left in you as current India cricketers and stay away from distractions.”
Bumrah, who was selected as the ICC Test and overall Cricketer of the Year for delivering "a master-class in skill, precision, and relentless consistency", was India's standout bowler last year, playing a pivotal role in India's home wins over England and Bangladesh.
The 31-year-old was also the Player of the Series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, bagging 32 wickets across five Tests.
Elegant batter Smriti Mandhana walked away with the Best International Cricketer of 2023-24 in women's category.
Mandhana, who was the ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year, made 743 runs in the 2024 calendar year with four centuries.
The 28-year-old’s runs came at an average of 57.86 and an impressive strike rate of 95.15.
Spin great Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from international cricket in December 2024 as India's second highest wicket-taker in Tests with 537 dismissals and overall eighth highest, was bestowed with a special award.
“My fingers still itch as I realised when I came down the field for training because there is an IPL for me. The whole career has been a huge high for me actually, and it was a privilege to share the stage with Sachin Tendulkar, a dream for a boy who played street cricket in Chennai,” Ashwin said after receiving the award.
The 37-year-old Ashwin, who made his Test debut in November 2011, played a defining role in India's 12-year domination in the longest format at home wherein they won 18 series on the trot.
Among newcomers, Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan grabbed the Best International Debut among men for his quick-fire fifty against England in the Rajkot Test in February 2024.
Among women, Asha Sobhana was given the award for Best International Debut as she picked up 4/21 against South Africa to help India win by 143 runs in their first ODI at Bengaluru in June 2024.
Mandhana was also honoured with the Highest Run Getter in ODIs medal after she finished as the highest run-scorer in 2024, smacking 747 runs at 57.46 in 13 matches with four tons and one fifty.
Experienced off-spinner Deepti Sharma was awarded with the Highest Wickets in ODIs medal for taking 24 wickets in 13 matches.
Tanush Kotian continued to make waves with his rise through the ranks in Mumbai in the 2023-24 season, which culminated with his maiden call-ups for the India A side for their tour of Australia and subsequently for the Indian team for the last two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Kotian was awarded with the Best Performance in the BCCI Domestic Tournaments trophy.
The 26-year-old scored 502 runs in 10 matches at 41.83 with one century and five fifties and also grabbed 29 wickets.
The Mumbai Cricket Association was given the Best Performance in BCCI Domestic Tournaments Trophy.
Having won the Ranji Trophy for a record-extending 42nd time in the season, Mumbai also claimed the Irani Cup after a gap of 27 years.
Mumbai also won various titles such as Ranji Trophy, U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, U-14 West Zone Championship, senior women's T20 Trophy, women's U-19 One Day Trophy, Bapuna Cup T20 Tournament and men's U-19 All India tournament.
Mumbai teams also finished as runner-up in Cooch Behar U-19 Trophy and Vinoo Mankad U-19 Trophy.
Akshay Totre from Indore was adjudged the Best Umpire in Domestic Cricket for the season.
🚨 𝗖𝗼𝗹. 𝗖.𝗞. 𝗡𝗮𝘆𝘂𝗱𝘂 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 🚨
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2025
He has given innumerable moments for cricket fans to celebrate and today we celebrate the Master 🫡🫡
The legendary Mr. Sachin Tendulkar receives the prestigious award 🏆
Many congratulations… pic.twitter.com/C3lE7Cfdsd
🚨 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗨𝗺𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 🚨
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 1, 2025
Unplayable deliveries, unparalleled spells, unbelievable match-winning performances 🔥
ONE Player 💪
Best International Cricketer - Men goes to none other than Jasprit Bumrah 🏆🙌#NamanAwards | @Jaspritbumrah93 pic.twitter.com/cBslS0HA6S
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Delhi court sentences Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia, associate to life imprisonment
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court has sentenced Haryana gangster Vikas Gulia and his associate to life imprisonment under MCOCA provisions, but refused the death penalty saying the offences did not fall under the category of 'rarest of the rare cases'.
Additional Sessions Judge Vandana Jain sentenced Gulia and Dhirpal alias Kana to rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
In an order dated December 13, the judge said, "Death sentence can only be awarded in 'rarest of the rare cases' wherein the murder is committed in an extremely inhumane, barbarous, grotesque or dastardly manner as to arouse umbrage of the community at large."
The judge said that on weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, it could be concluded that the present case did not fall under the category, and so, the death penalty could not be imposed upon the convicts.
"Thus, both the convicts are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh each, for committing the offence under Section 3 of MCOCA," she said.
The public prosecutor, seeking the death penalty for both the accused, submitted that they were involved in several unlawful activities while they were on bail in other cases.
He argued that the accused had shown no respect for the law and acted without any fear of legal consequences, and therefore did not deserve any leniency from the court.
The court noted that both convicts were involved in offences of murder, attempt to murder, extortion, robbery, house trespass, and criminal intimidation. Besides, they had misused the liberty of interim bail granted to them by absconding.
It said, "The terror of the convicts was such that it created fear psychosis in the mind of the general public, and they lost complete faith in the law enforcement agencies and chose to accede to the illegal demands of convicts. Despite suffering losses, they could not gather the courage to depose against them."
The court noted that Gulia was involved in at least 18 criminal cases, while Dhirpal had links to 10 serious offences.
It underlined that MCOCA had been enacted "keeping in view the fact that organised crime had come up as a serious threat to society, as it knew no territorial boundaries and is fuelled by illegal wealth generated by committing the offence of extortion, contract killings, kidnapping for ransom, collection of protection money, murder, etc."
Both accused persons had been convicted on December 10 in a case registered at Najafgarh police station. The police filed a chargesheet under Section 3 (punishment for organised crime) and 4 (punishment for possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of member of organised crime syndicate) of MCOCA.
