NEW DELHI: India speedster Jasprit Bumrah and opener Smriti Mandhana, who both delivered extraordinary performances in 2024, earned top honours at the BCCI awards in Mumbai on Saturday.
Bumrah, the Indian pace spearhead, was awarded the Best International Men’s Cricketer at the BCCI Naman Awards 2025 on Saturday, following a year of exceptional contributions across all formats.
His match-winning spells and 15 wickets in the T20 World Cup helped India break a 17-year drought, and his pivotal role in the victory earned him the Player of the Tournament award.
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In Tests, Bumrah finished 2024 as the highest wicket-taker for India with 71 wickets in 13 matches, second only to the legendary Kapil Dev in a single calendar year.
His unplayable deliveries and match-defining performances, especially during the challenging Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, where he finished as the leading wicket-taker with 31 scalps, solidified his reputation as one of the world’s finest bowlers.
With his third Polly Umrigar Award, Bumrah continues to build on his legacy as a true force in international cricket.
Though he is currently nursing a back injury, Bumrah is expected to play a key role in India’s upcoming ICC Champions Trophy campaign in February.
In women’s cricket, Smriti Mandhana’s 2024 was nothing short of spectacular.
She was crowned the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year after amassing 743 runs, including four centuries, a record for women’s cricket.
Her aggressive yet elegant batting style, with over 100 boundaries struck at an average of 57.86 and a strike rate of 95.15, made her a standout performer in the 50-over format.
Mandhana’s consistency and explosive impact at the crease have firmly established her as one of the most dominant figures in international women’s cricket.