Suryakumar Yadav voted ICC Men's T20 Cricketer of Year, Renuka wins Emerging Cricketer of Year
Dubai, Jan 25: Swashbuckling Indian batter Suryakumar Yadav was on Wednesday named the ICC Men's T20 Cricketer of the Year for his ridiculously good run in the shortest format of the game.
Surya had a stellar 2022, breaking an array of records and setting a benchmark in the format.
He beat the likes of Sam Curran, Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and Zimbabwe's batting all-rounder Sikandar Raza for the top honour.
India's newest fast-bowling star Renuka Singh become the recipient of ICC Emerging Women's Cricketer of the Year Award.
However, India vice-captain and last year's Cricketer of the Year Smriti Mandhana lost out to Australia's Tahlia McGrath in the women's T20 category.
Popularly known as 'SKY', the 32-year-old became just the second batter to make more than 1000 runs in a calendar year in T20Is and ended the year as the highest run-getter, scoring 1164 runs at a strike-rate of 187.43.
Surya hit a stunning 68 sixes during the year, easily the most recorded by anyone in a year in the format's history.
The Indian was the key batter for his team through the year, smashing two hundreds and nine half-centuries.
Surya was at his stupendous best during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, recording three fifties in six innings and averaging nearly 60.
Notably, his strike-rate was yet again right up there at 189.68.
Having already recorded a ton earlier in the year, Suryakumar continued his brilliant year after the multi-nation tournament, making his second hundred in T20Is in the bilateral series in New Zealand.
Surya also became the top-ranked T20 player, achieving a career-high 890 rating points.
Renuka wins
There has been a buzz surrounding Renuka, who burst into life in a busy 12 months for the Indian women's team.
The 26-year-old beat Australia's Darcie Brown, England's Alice Capsey and compatriot Yastika Bhatia to take home the emerging player award.
The right-armer claimed 40 wickets for her country in 2022 in just 29 matches across the two white-ball formats, filling the void left by the great Jhulan Goswami.
In the ODI game, Renuka was especially potent, taking 18 wickets at an average of just 14.88, of which eight came in two appearances against England and seven in India's series with Sri Lanka.
Renuka troubled the Australian line-up in the seven T20I meetings across the year, taking eight wickets, and her performances across the Commonwealth Games and Asia Cup also grabbed attention. She claimed 17 wickets in 11 matches, at an economy of just 5.21.
With an ability to swing the ball and get it to deviate off the surface, Renuka will likely be one of India's most dependable bowlers in the coming years.
Impressing everybody with her magnificent displays of seam and swing bowling, the ICC Emerging Women's Cricketer of the Year had a great 2022 👌#ICCAwards2022
— ICC (@ICC) January 25, 2023
Presenting the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year 2022 👀#ICCAwards
— ICC (@ICC) January 25, 2023
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Three teenage pregnancies reported in Karnataka within six months
Bengaluru: Karnataka has reported three cases of teenage pregnancies within the past six months, with the latest incident coming to light at a private school in Channarayapatna town of Hassan district, reported by The New Indian Express on Saturday.
Experts and child rights officials have expressed serious concern over the recurring cases, pointing to gaps in child protection mechanisms within educational institutions. They have cited the absence of child protection committees in schools, lack of awareness about the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, inadequate sex education, and parental ignorance as key factors contributing to such incidents.
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The commission’s chairman, Shashidhar Kosambe reportedly said, the main reason is not implementing the Karnataka State Child Protection Policy, 2016, in schools, especially at residential schools like those in Yadgir and Koppal where such incidents have taken place.
According to the policy, the commission must have two teachers or school officials and two outsiders who work in the interest of child rights, so that there is no prejudice whenever complaints are filed.
“It is the responsibility of the commission to monitor children and school staff. Awareness programmes on child protection policies, the POCSO Act, and sexual abuse must be conducted regularly for students and staff. Police must be informed immediately when a violation is detected. The policy and the commission must become part of the ecosystem and shouldn’t be treated as extra work,” TNIE quoted Kosambe as saying.
Psychiatry professor at ESI hospital, Rajajinagar, Dr Chandrashekar said, many adolescent girls become pregnant when they are sexually abused by their male friends. The victims undergo a lot of physical changes and mental trauma because of the way others respond. Therefore, whenever we come across a pregnant teenager, especially the victims of sexual abuse, we provide counselling to the victim as her family members.
