ICC Awards: Bumrah is Test Cricketer of the Year; Mandhana best ODI player among women
Dubai(PTI) Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was chosen for the men's Test Cricketer of the Year, while big-hitting batter Smriti Mandhana bagged the women's honour in the ODI format as Indian cricketers dominated the ICC individual awards that were rolled out on Monday.
ICC announced three more awardees from its annual list this afternoon, continuing a process that started on Friday. The final two honours -- the men's and women's Cricketer of the Year -- will be revealed on Tuesday and Bumrah is in contention to bag a double after having been named in the Test Team of the Year.
Bumrah was a standout performer in the last 12 months in which he dominated all opposition teams, grabbing 71 wickets from a mere 13 matches at a brilliant average of 14.92.
Bumrah bowled a phenomenal 357 overs in Test cricket in the cycle, maintaining a strike-rate of just 30.1.
Bumrah, who was instrumental in India's home series victories over England and Bangladesh, was the fourth Indian bowler to take 70 or more wickets in a calendar year after Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and R Ashwin.
"I am really happy to win the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year award. This format is always close to my heart. The last year was really special, to be having a lot of learning and wins.
"I am happy to play a lot of cricket this year, and a lot of wickets have been special. But the wicket of Ollie Pope (England) at Visakhapatnam was really special because that shifted the momentum in our favour," Bumrah was quoted as saying in an ICC release.
The 31-year-old's brightest moments came during India's tour to Australia, where his astonishing 32 wickets across five Tests earned him the Player of the Series award, despite India going 1-3 down in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
During the series Down Under, Bumrah crossed the 200 Test wickets milestone, becoming the 12th Indian bowler to achieve the feat.
Bumrah also set a unique record while achieving the feat, becoming the only bowler in Test history with a minimum of 200 dismissals to have an average less than 20 (19.4).
The pacer also led the team in the Perth Test, which India won by a whopping 295 runs, in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who was on a paternity leave.
It was also India's biggest Test win ever by runs.
He is the first male Indian cricketer to bag an individual ICC honour since 2018, when Virat Kohli claimed the Test player of the year as well as the cricketer of the year.
Honour for Mandhana
Charismatic opener Smriti Mandhana brought further joy for Indian fans as she was named as the women's ODI Cricketer of the Year. She earlier featured in the women's T20 International and ODI Team of the Year.
The India vice-captain, who was the ICC women's Cricketer of the Year in 2018 and 2022, racked up 747 runs in 13 innings in 2024 to bag the prestigious award.
"I thank ICC for giving me the honour of ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year. I was happy to contribute to the team.
"I would like to thank my coaches and family for all the support and most importantly the teammates who have been with me through all the ups and downs," Mandhana told ICC.
She put several batting stalwarts, including South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt, England's Tammy Beaumont and West Indies' Hayley Matthews, to shade.
The left-hander's tally was the highest among the leading run-getters in Women's ODIs last year, way ahead of Wolvaardt (697), Beaumont (554) and Matthews (469).
She scored four ODI centuries, a record in the women's game, and found the boundary more than a hundred times in the year, hitting 95 fours and six maximums.
The 28-year-old cricketer's runs came at an average of 57.86 and an impressive strike rate of 95.15.
Some of her best innings came against high-calibre opposition, including her back-to-back centuries which guided India to a 3-0 series win against South Africa in June.
Mandhana also smashed a ton in the series decider against New Zealand in October.
She went on to showcase her ability to dominate the best bowling in the world with another defiant century in Perth against Australia in a losing cause in December.
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.
