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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Ex-Army officer assaulted, robbed at gunpoint by woman he met through matrimonial website
Mathura(UP), Apr 5 (PTI): A retired Army colonel from Haryana has filed a police complaint here, alleging that he was held hostage, assaulted, looted and forced to participate in an "obscene video" at gunpoint with a woman he met through a matrimonial website, police said on Saturday.
The woman from Mathura, who was allegedly in on the plan to rob him, was working with other accomplices, the ex-armyman said in his complaint filed on Thursday.
According to Barsana Station House Officer (SHO) Raj Kamal Singh, Colonel Rajneesh Soni (retired), a resident of Gurugram, reported that he was contacted by a woman from Barsana on a matrimonial website in January. The woman allegedly agreed to marry him, and they began communicating.
The woman allegedly persuaded the colonel to visit Barsana on January 25, requesting that he visit the Radharani temple. When he arrived, she arranged for his stay at a guest house and took him on a tour of the area, including a visit to the temple, the complainant said.
After returning to the guest house, the woman and her accomplices allegedly told the colonel that her brother had been involved in an accident and they needed to leave immediately. They then led him to a waiting car.
"Once outside the town limits, the colonel alleges that he was attacked by the occupants of the car. They seized his phone, physically assaulted him, and forced him to contact relatives and friends to transfer money," the SHO said.
"He was then taken back to the guest house, where he was allegedly forced to participate in obscene videos and photographs at gunpoint. He was threatened that the videos would be made public if he reported the incident," the officer said.
The colonel has alleged that his purse, bag, gold chain, debit card and Rs. 12,000 in cash were stolen from the guest house.
After an unsuccessful attempt at locating the perpetrators himself, the colonel finally reported the incident to the Barsana police two days ago, he said.
"A case has been registered under relevant sections of the BNS and all facts are being investigated. Further action will be taken as per facts found in the investigation," the SHO said.
