Smriti Mandhana named 'Women's Cricketer of the Year'
New Delhi, Dec 31: Talented India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was on Monday adjudged 'Women's Cricketer of the Year' as well as the 'Women's ODI Player of the Year' by the ICC.
Le-handed opener Mandhana won the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for the 'Women's Cricketer of the Year' for scoring 669 runs in 12 ODIs along with 622 runs in 25 T20 Internationals in 2018. Her ODI runs were scored at an average of 66.90 while strike-rate for T20I was an impressive 130.67.
Mandhana played a crucial role in India's semi-final appearance at the Women's World T20 in the West Indies, where she scored 178 runs in five matches at a strike-rate of 125.35.
She is currently ranked fourth in the ODI rankings and 10th in the rankings for T20Is, the ICC said in a statement. Mandhana became only the second Indian woman player to win an ICC award aer fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, who was named the ICC Player of the Year in 2007. Reacting to the news, a delighted Mandhana said: "...when you get acknowledged for your performances through these awards, it motivates you to work harder and do well for your team.
"The century I scored in South Africa (in Kimberley) was quite satisfying and then I had good home series against Australia and England. A lot of people used to say I do not score that much in India, so I had a point to prove to myself," she added. ICC Chief Executive David Richardson congratulated Mandhana, saying: "Smriti enthralled fans with some wonderful performances in what was a memorable year for women's cricket, with the ICC Women's World T20 helping build on the momentum of last year's World Cup."
Australia's opening batter and wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy, who came up with some superb performances and finished with 225 runs in six matches at the Women's World T20 in the West Indies, has been named the ICC Women's T20I Player of the Year.
"Winning the ICC Women's World T20 final against England is something pretty special, especially after a disappointing couple of years in World Cups. That win against them, a dominant performance, was pretty special and one I will never forget," she said.
"When I first started playing for Australia I never thought that I would achieve anything like this. It's a huge honour and one that I will not take lightly," the batswoman said.
England's 19-year-old le-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone has been voted the Emerging Player of the Year aer grabbing 18 wickets in nine ODIs and 17 in 14 T20Is during the calendar year. "It was my first full year as an England player aer finishing my education so it's amazing to get an award like this," Ecclestone said.
"We learned a lot in India at the beginning of the year and we took that into our summer against New Zealand and South Africa. We've never said we're the perfect team but we'll keep working hard to get better and that's the same for me," Ecclestone said.
Courtesy: www.deccanherald.com
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'Godman' Kharat held in 8th sexual exploitation case; court denies police remand, sends him to jail
Nashik (PTI): Police took custody of self-proclaimed godman-cum-astrologer Ashok Kharat in an eighth case related to sexual exploitation of women and produced him before a Nashik district court which sent him to jail till May 12 after rejecting the plea for his police remand on Thursday.
On April 29, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police in north Maharashtra filed a request application in the court demanding Kharat's custody in the eighth case.
After the court granted them the necessary permission, the SIT took custody of Kharat, who was in jail in connection with the seventh case of sexual exploitation registered against him.
The 'godman', named in a dozen FIRs related to rape and financial fraud, was produced before Chief Judicial Magistrate B N Ichpurani in the eighth case through video conferencing due to security reasons.
The eighth case related to Kharat allegedly sexually exploiting a woman who had approached him in search of solutions to her family problems, according to police.
During the hearing, the prosecution demanded police custody of the accused in the latest case.
However, the defence strongly opposed the demand and argued that the SIT was giving same reasons for police custody every time and there was no strong reason for accepting their plea.
The court accepted the argument put forth by the defence and remanded Kharat to judicial custody till May 12 in the eighth case.
The SIT will produce Kharat in the court on Friday again and seek his police custody in the ninth case. As the self-styled godman has been granted judicial custody in the eighth case, he will be sent to Nashik Road Central Jail and the SIT will take his custody from there.
Meanwhile, Kharat's judicial custody in the fourth case ended on Thursday. On April 18, the accused was remanded to judicial custody till April 30 in the fourth case of sexual exploitation of women.
In a related development, the SIT conducted a search at Kharat's office in the 'Canada Corner' area of Nashik city on Wednesday. A 'panchnama' (record of search and seizure proceedings) was conducted and the office was locked and sealed again.
Kharat, a well-heeled man with political connections, was arrested for the first time on March 18 after a woman alleged he had repeatedly raped her for three years.
He is accused of sexually exploiting several women by claiming to have divine powers and knowledge of black magic, and also committing large-scale financial fraud.
The SIT is conducting a probe into 12 cases of sexual exploitation and financial fraud registered against the astrologer in Nashik and Ahilyanagar districts.
