New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell wins ICC's 'Spirit of Cricket' award
Dubai(PTI): New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell is the recipient of the ICC 'Spirit of Cricket' award for 2021 due to his sportsmanlike gesture in the T20 World Cup semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi.
Mitchell won the award for refusing to take what was an easy single after coming in the way of bowler Adil Rashid in the high-pressure World Cup semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi on November 10 last year.
Mitchell is the fourth New Zealand player to win the award, following the footsteps of Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson.
"It's an honour to receive the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award," Mitchell said.
"To be part of that T20 World Cup in UAE was an amazing experience, and to receive an award like this is pretty cool.
"It's something that we pride ourselves on as New Zealanders, the way we go about playing our cricket, and yes, the Spirit of Cricket side.
"Personally, I felt I got in the way and we wanted to win on our own terms, and didn't want to be controversial in such a big game. It paid off in the long run that we won the game. Looking back, it all happened pretty quickly."
The incident occurred on the first ball of the 18th over bowled by Adil Rashid, with the score at 133/4 and James Neesham on strike.
Neesham smashed the ball down the ground and it would have been an easy single. But Mitchell, at the non-striker's end, refused to take the run, conceding that he had impeded Rashid in a high-pressure chase, with a place in the World Cup final at stake.
Nasser Hussain, who was live on commentary during the contest, was full of praise for Mitchell saying, "That is very good. That is so New Zealand, it really is. So easy to take a run there. But the non-strike said, 'No, I've got in the way of Adil.' Anything sums up New Zealand cricket it was that."
Mitchell, explaining why he refused to take the single, added: "It was a pretty tight game against England in that semi-final, with only a few overs to go. Neesh (Jimmy Neesham) hit a single down to long-off I think it was, and I felt like I'd obstructed Rashid from getting to the ball.
"The game that we play, we play it because we love it. Yes, we want to win as much as we can, but we don't want that to come about from doing things that go against the values of cricket. Spirit of Cricket is vitally important. It sets a platform for kids in the future, who will go about playing the game in the right way.
"At the end of the day, it is a game, it's something that we love. So obviously we're so lucky to do that."
Mitchell who opened the batting proved to be the match-winner, playing a memorable knock of 72 not out in only 47 deliveries, while also hitting the winning runs.
A gesture that won the hearts of millions 🙌
— ICC (@ICC) February 2, 2022
Daryl Mitchell – the winner of the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award 2021 👏
Details 👉 https://t.co/pLfSWlfIZB pic.twitter.com/zq8e4mQTnz
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NEET aspirant hangs self in Kota, 12th suicide by coaching student since Jan
Kota, Jun 27: A 17-year-old medical aspirant allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan in his rented accommodation here, police said on Thursday.
This is the twelfth case of suspected suicide by a coaching student in Kota since January. The number of student suicides in Kota stood at 26 in 2023.
Bihar native Hrishit Kumar Agrawal, a student of Class 12, was preparing for NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) at a coaching institute here, Dadabari ASI Shambhu Dayal said.
He lived in a rented room in a building in Chota Chaurahin Dadabari area where some other coaching students also resided, he said.
At around 1 pm on Thursday, the other students informed police after Agrawal did not open his door when they knocked, he said.
When a police team broke open the door, they found Agarwal hanging from a ceiling fan inside his room, he said, adding that no suicide note was recovered from the room
The body was in a decomposing state. It is suspected that he committed suicide sometime on Wednesday, he said.
Agarwal was preparing for the medical college entrance exam and taking coaching for the same in Kota for the last two years, Dadabari circle inspector Naresh Kumar Meena said, adding that the boy’s parents have been informed.
The body has been sent to MBS hospital for a post-mortem, which will be conducted after the arrival of his parents, he said.
On June 16, another Bihar native, Ayush Jaiswal (17) committed suicide inside his PG room in Kota. He was preparing for the IIT-JEE competitive exam.
An 18-year-old NEET aspirant, Bagisha Tiwari, died allegedly after jumping from the ninth floor of a building in the coaching hub on June 5, a day after the National Testing Agency (NTA) declared the NEET-UG results, in which she scored 320 out of 720 marks.
