Published: Mar 08, 2017, 11:06 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 08, 2017, 11:51 PM (IST)
Bengaluru: Indian captain Virat Kohli and spin ace Ravichandran Ashwin were on Wednesday honoured for their phenomenal run of form through the season in the BCCI Awards Night 2017. Kohli won the Polly Umrigar award for best international player of 2015/16, becoming the first player to get the award three times. Much like his skipper, Ashwin too has been on a record-breaking spree in the ongoing season, winning the CK Nayudu award for his performance in the West Indies in 2016. He picked up 17 wickets in four Tests, including a haul of 7/83 in North Sound. On receiving the award, Kohli said, “It’s been quite unbelievable the last 10 to 12 months. I am not bothered who thinks what. This is the attitude in dressing room. We learn to win together and lose together. I wanted to be the best in all formats. I saw it as an opportunity and I decided to follow a path and the whole team believed it.” Virat Kohli to receive Polly Umrigar Award for international cricketer of the year
“The last 10-12 months have been quite unbelievable. As cricketers, you always have a breakthrough year, starting late of 2015 to probably the end of 2016, I could recall when I grow older as the breakthrough year in my career,” he added. “There were a lot of people who doubted in my abilities but I have that belief in myself and if I give my 120 percent everyday then I don’t think I am answerable to anyone,” he said, reported IANS.
He also hailed his Indian teammates for their outstanding performance in Test cricket of late. “It couldn’t have been possible without the help of my teammates. Whenever we had a poor time, one of the champions in our side took the responsibility and stood up. That’s why we are a champion team and are the No.1 Test team in the world. If we can win together, we should also learn to embrace the losses together,” said Kohli, added IANS. BCCI Awards 2017: Ashwin wins hearts with a moving speech
Former India wicketkeeper Farookh Engineer, who delivered the MAK Pataudi lecture, had nothing but only praise for the legendary captain. Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland was also present on the occasion. Engineer urged everyone to know and respect the contributions made by Pataudi to Indian cricket, saying that the Tiger was “still a world-class player despite losing one eye”. The awards night was being held a day after India’s win series-levelling win over Australia in the second Test of the ongoing four-match series.
Kohli led India to victory against Sri Lanka and at the latter’s home soil, which ended a 22-year drought. He also helped India win Gandhi-Mandela series versus the South Africans 3-0. On the other hand, Mithali Raj too has played exceedingly well this year and richly deserved to be honoured with Best Woman Cricketer of the year in the senior grade.
