Suryakumar, Mandhana among nominees for ICC T20 Cricketer of the Year honour
Dubai (PTI): Swashbuckling Indian batters Suryakumar Yadav and Smriti Mandhana were on Thursday nominated for the men's and women's T20 Cricketer of the Year awards, respectively, for their exploits in 2022.
Suryakumar has been nominated alongside T20 World Cup-winning England all-rounder Sam Curran, Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan and Zimbabwe's batting all-rounder Sikandar Raza for the top honours in the men's category.
Pakistan bowling all-rounder Nida Dar, New Zealand's Sophie Devine and Australian Tahlia Mcgrath will give Mandhana competition in the women's category.
Suryakumar had a sensational 2022 in the shortest format of the game, becoming just the second batter to score more than 1000 runs in a year in the format.
He ended the year as the highest run-getter, scoring 1164 runs at a ridiculous strike-rate of 187.43. His tally of 68 sixes in the calendar year in T20s is the highest anyone has recorded in the format in a year by a fair distance.
Suryakumar's incredible consistency in the format is reflected in his average which stood in the mid-40s. With two hundreds and nine half-centuries in the year, Yadav was the standout men's T20 batter.
In the T20 World Cup in Australia, he recorded three fifties in six innings, averaging nearly 60 in the tournament while going at a strike-rate of 189.68. He continued his stellar year after the tournament too, recording his second hundred in T20s in the year in the bilateral series in New Zealand.
The year also saw Suryakumar become the top-ranked men's T20 batter, achieving a career-high 890 rating points.
Last year's ICC women's T20 Cricketer of the Year, Mandhana was once again a picture of consistency in the shortest format.
From smashing the quickest fifty by an India woman (off just 23 balls) to breaching the 2500-run mark in T20s, Mandhana enjoyed a good run this year.
She left her mark on the Commonwealth Games, the T20 Asia Cup and a memorable five-match home series against Australia towards the business end of a fruitful year.
Mandhana's most exciting innings of 2022 came in the second T20 of the bilateral series against Australia in December.
In front of over 47,000 spectators the highest turnout for a women's cricket match in India at the DY Patil stadium in Mumbai, Mandhana smacked a 49-ball 79 while chasing Australia's 187/1.
She was India's top-scorer in the match, taking the match to the very end as India set up a super over clash after levelling the scores at 187/5.
In the super over, India came out to bat first and scored a competitive total of 20/1, out of which Mandhana scored 13 off the last three balls (4, 6, 3).
This turned out to be a total well enough for India as they restricted Australia to 16/1, sealing a memorable win in front of a roaring crowd.
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.
AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
