The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to host its second edition of the NAMAN awards, the event which was supposed to be an annual thing. The awards show will take place for the first time since 2020, after a four-year gap and the winners from 2020-22 as well as the winners of 2023 all will be presented with their awards. Ravi Shastri and Shubman Gill are set to be honoured among other winners.
"He (Shastri) has been chosen for the honour while Gill will be awarded the cricketer of the year," a BCCI official was quoted as saying to PTI. Shastri, who was part of the World Cup-winning squad in 1983, turned India into a Test-playing beast overseas as head coach from the period 2018 to 2021 as the red-ball teams led by Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane saw its golden period in those few years.
Shastri with his theory of making a world-beating pace attack, implemented it in style while decimating famed batting line-ups across England, Australia and South Africa. Shastri, who is now back to commentating across the globe, was a pioneer in India becoming a great Test-playing nation overseas, including qualification for the inaugural WTC final in 2021.
Similarly, Shubman Gill, who stepped into international cricket under Shastri's stint, came into his own in 2023, scoring the most number of runs by a batsman in the whole year. Gill smashed centuries across all three formats in 2023 with the total being seven, including a double hundred in ODIs and 10 fifties, apart from a sensational 890-run IPL. Gill established himself as an all-format player for India but given that he changed his batting number from opening to No.3, 2024 will be the year for him to strengthen his place at that position.
(With PTI inputs)
