BCCI Awards: India star Shubman Gill bags Polly Umrigar award for best men's cricketer after stellar 2023
After a stellar run for India in all formats of the game, Shubman Gill won the Prestigious Polly Umrigar award for the best men's cricketer of the year in 2023 during the BCCI awards event on January 23, Tuesday.
In Short
- Gill had a stellar run in 2023
- Gill ended the year with 1,584 ODI runs
- Shami, Ashwin and Bumrah also bagged the Polly Umrigar trophy for the past seasons
India's young star Shubman Gill has won the prestigious Polly Umrigar award for the best men's cricketer of the year for 2023, after his stellar performances with the bat for the Indian team
In the year 2023, Shubman Gill, a prodigious talent in Indian cricket, demonstrated his exceptional skills across all formats of the game. As an opening batsman, he amassed a remarkable 1,584 runs at an average of 63.36 and a strike rate of 105.45 in 29 One Day International (ODI) matches, which included five centuries.
His prowess in the ODI format was further highlighted by his record-breaking feat of becoming the fastest cricketer to reach 2,000 ODI runs, achieving this milestone in just 38 innings during a World Cup match against the Netherlands in Bengaluru.
Gill's ODI performances were studded with records, such as scoring the highest T20I score by an Indian player and becoming the youngest cricketer to hit a double century in ODIs. He also made significant contributions in Test cricket, with two centuries to his name. In T20Is, he notched up his first century against New Zealand, becoming the fifth Indian batter to score centuries across all international formats.
In the IPL, Gill continued to shine, playing for the Gujarat Titans. He won the Orange Cap for scoring 890 runs, the second-highest total in a single IPL season, which included three centuries. His performance in the Qualifier 2 match was particularly noteworthy, where he scored 129 runs, marking the highest individual score in IPL playoff history.
India Today had learnt he was all set to receive the prestigious award and it was finally handed to him on January 23. The last winner of the award was Jasprit Bumrah in 2019, who broke the four-year winning streak of Virat Kohli.
Since then the award functions hadn't taken place and BCCI decided to give the pending awards to the players in Hyderabad.
Shami, Ashwin and Bumrah also given Polly Umrigar awards
Apart from Gill, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah were also given the Polly Umrigar awards for their performances in the past seasons. Shami was given the award for his outstanding performance during the 2019-20.
Ashwin was next and he got the award for the 2020-21 season. Bumrah got his second Polly Umrigar award as he won it for the 2021-22 season.