Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who lost his place as the frontline spinner in the Indian team, Thursday was adjudged the winner of Polly Umrigar Award, for being India's best international cricketer of 2012-13, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced.
The award will be given at seventh annual BCCI Awards Ceremony to be held here January 11.
Ashwin took 43 wickets, inclusive of four five-wicket hauls and one match haul of 10 wickets, and scored 263 runs, inclusive of two fifties, from eight Tests. He also took 24 wickets from 18 ODIs, and three wickets from four T20 Internationals.
The Polly Umrigar Award comprises a trophy and a cheque for Rs.5 lakh. The award has been won in previous years by Sachin Tendulkar (2006-07 and 2009-10), Virender Sehwag (2007-08), Gautam Gambhir (2008-09), Rahul Dravid (2010-11) and Virat Kohli (2011-12).
Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar will receive the Lala Amarnath Award for being the best all-rounder in the 2012-13 edition of the Ranji Trophy. He scored 966 runs at an average of 96.6, inclusive of three centuries and eight fifties, and 19 wickets at an average of 22.8, inclusive of one five-wicket haul, from eleven matches, in the tournament. The award comprises a trophy and a cheque for Rs..5 lakh.
The Mumbai Cricket Association, which Nayar represents, will collect the trophy for the Best Overall Performance in the 2012-13 season. The MCA won the Ranji Trophy, the Under-25 C.K. Nayudu Trophy, the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, the Women's Under-19 Inter-State tournament, and finished runners-up in the Under-19 Cooch Behar Trophy.
The achievers of 2012-13 apart, Rohit Sharma will receive the Dilip Sardesai Award, for being India's best cricketer in the recent Test series against the West Indies. He scored a century each in both Tests. The award comprises a trophy and a cheque for Rs.5 lakh.
Three former stalwarts, R.G. (Bapu) Nadkarni, Faroukh Engineer and late Eknath Solkar will also be recognised for their contribution to Indian cricket. They will receive a memento and a cheque for Rs. 15 lakh each.
