The Indian stars were rewarded with big accolades at the BCCI’s Annual Awards Night. All the Indian stars from the international and the domestic man and woman athletes gathered together at the BCCI Awards night on 23rd January 2024. Award winners from various categories for their outstanding performances for the last four seasons were all set to be revealed at BCCI’s Annual Awards.
Best International Cricketer:
Deepti Sharma (2019-20 and 2022-23)
The 26-year-old star Indian all-rounder has been in good form and an impactful contributor with the bat as well as with the ball, leaving a positive imprint on India’s success at the International level in recent years. She picked up a combined 20 wickets (8 wickets in season 2019-20 and 12 wickets in 2022, and 2023) in 15 innings (6 innings in season 2019-20, and 9 innings in 2022 and 2023) with the ball in the ODI format. Her best performance with the ball came on 1st July 2022 when she returned with match figures (3/25) in her spell in the 1st ODI against Sri Lanka.
Apart from her exploits with the ball, she also scored 167 runs (37 runs in 2019-20 and 130 runs in 2022 and 2023) in 12 innings (5 innings in 2019-20, and 7 innings in 2022 and 2023) with the bat in the ODI format. Her best performance with the bat came on 24th September 2022 when she scored an unbeaten 68 runs at a strike rate of 64.15 in the 3rd ODI against England.
As far as the T20I format is concerned, she had a sensational year with the bat as she scored 524 runs (226 runs in 2019-20 and 298 runs in 2022-23) in 32 innings (17 innings in 2019-20 and 15 innings in 2022-23). Her best performance with the bat came on 4th October 2022 when she scored 64 runs at a strike rate of 130.61 against UAE in the Women’s Asia Cup 2022. She picked up 59 wickets (25 wickets in 2019-20 and 34 wickets in 2022-23) in 40 innings (18 innings in 2019-20 and 22 innings in 2022-23) in the T20I format. Her best performance with the ball came on 10th November 2019 when she returned with the match figures (4/10) in her spell in the 2nd T20I against the West Indies. She was awarded Best International Cricketer for the season 2019-20 and 2022-23 at BCCI’s Annual Awards.
Smriti Mandhana (2020-21 and 2021-22)
The veteran left-handed opening batter had good stints with the bat in recent times. She scored 682 runs (147 runs in season 2020-21 and 535 runs in season 2021-22) in 17 innings (5 innings in 2020-21 and 12 innings in 2021-22) in the ODI format. Her best performance with the bat came on 12th March 2022 when she scored 123 runs at a strike rate of 103.36 against the West Indies in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand.
As far as the T20I format is concerned, she scored 136 runs (66 runs in 2020-21 and 70 runs in 2021-22) in 6 innings (3 innings each in 2020-21 and 2021-22). Her best performance with the bat came on 10th October 2021 when she scored 52 runs at a strike rate of 106.12 in the 3rd T20I against Australia. She was awarded Best International Cricketer for the season 2020-21 and 2021-22 at BCCI’s Annual Awards.
Best International Debut:
Priya Punia (ODI Debut: 9th October 2019)
The 27-year-old middle-order batter Priya Punia made her ODI debut on 9th October 2019 in the 1st ODI at Vadodara against South Africa. Chasing a target of 165, she opened the innings alongside Jemimah Rodrigues and guided India over the line with an unbeaten 75 runs, notching up her maiden ODI half-century. She was awarded Best International Debut in the season 2019-20 at BCCI’s Annual Awards.
Shafali Verma (Test Debut: 16th June 2021)
The 19-year-old young batting sensation known for her fearless approach to the game made her Test debut as a 17-year-old on 16th June 2021 against England at Bristol. She smashed half-centuries in both the innings (96 and 63) on her debut. She fell just 4 runs short of her well-deserved maiden century (96 off 152 balls) in the red-ball format in the 1st innings. She followed that up with another half-century (63 off 83 balls) in the 2nd innings.
Amanjot Kaur (T20I Debut: 19th January 2023)
The 24-year all-rounder made her T20I debut on 19th January 2023 at East London against South Africa. She stayed unbeaten on 41 runs scoring at a strike rate of 136.66 helping India post a competitive total on the board. She also had an impressive ODI debut on 16th July 2023 in the 1st ODI against Bangladesh when she picked up (4/31) with the ball in her spell and scored 15 runs with the bat.
Highest Wicket-taker in ODIs:
Poonam Yadav (2019-20)
The veteran 32-year-old leg-spinner Poonam Yadav was the leading wicket-taker in the ODI format for India in the 2019-2020 season as she picked up 9 wickets in 5 innings at a strike rate of 33.3 and an average of 19.11. Her best performance with the ball came on 3rd November 2019 when she returned with match figures (2/26) in her spell in the 2nd ODI against the West Indies.
Jhulan Goswami (2020-21)
The legendary Indian pacer was the leading wicket-taker for India in the 2020-21 season with 8 wickets to her name at a strike rate of 29.2 and an average of 17.12 in 4 innings. Her best performance with the ball came on 9th March 2021 when she returned with match figures (4/42) in her spell in the 2nd ODI at Lucknow against South Africa. She announced her retirement from International cricket in September 2022.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2021-22)
The 32-year-old veteran Indian left-arm spinner was the leading wicket-taker in the ODI format for India in the 2021-22 season. She picked up 17 wickets with the ball at a strike rate of 41.3 and an average of 30.29 in 13 innings. Her best performance with the ball came on 6th March 2022 in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup when she returned with match figures (4/31) in her match-winning spell against Pakistan.
Devika Vaidya (2022-23)
The 26-year-old all-rounder Devika Vaidya was the leading wicket-taker with the ball for India in the ODI format in the 2022-23 season. She picked up 6 wickets with the ball at a strike rate of 25 and an average of 18 in 3 innings. Her best performance with the ball came on 19th July 2023 when she returned with match figures (3/30) in her spell in the 2nd ODI against Bangladesh.
Highest Run-scorer in ODIs:
Punam Raut (2019-20)
The 34-year-old veteran opening batter was the leading run-scorer for India in the ODI format in the 2019-20 season. She scored 219 runs at a strike rate of 57.63 and an average of 36.50 in 6 innings. Her tally of runs included a couple of half-centuries. Her best performance with the bat came on 3rd November 2019 when she scored 77 runs at a strike rate of 60.15 in the 2nd ODI against the West Indies.
Mithali Raj (2020-21)
The 41-year-old legendary top-order batter and the former Indian skipper was the leading run-scorer for India in the ODI format in the 2020-21 season. She scored 210 runs at a strike rate of 67.74 and a humongous average of 70 in 4 innings. Her tally of runs included a couple of half-centuries. Her best performance with the bat came on 17th March 2021 when she scored an unbeaten 79 runs at a strike rate of 75.96 in the 5th T20I against South Africa. She announced her retirement from International cricket on 8th June 2022.
Harmanpreet Kaur (2021-22)
The legendary Indian skipper was the leading run-scorer for India in the ODI format in the 2021-22 season. She scored 414 runs at a strike rate of 87.15 and an impressive average of 41.40 in 11 innings. Her tally of runs includes 3 half-centuries and a century. Her best performance with the bat came on 12th March 2022 when she scored 109 runs at a strike rate of 101.86 against the West Indies at Hamilton in the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand.
Jemimah Rodrigues (2022-23)
The 23-year-old young Indian middle-order batter was the leading run-scorer for India in the ODI format in the 2022-23 season. She scored 255 runs at a strike rate of 90.74 and a humongous average of 63.75 in 5 innings. Her tally of runs includes a couple of half-centuries. Her best performance with the bat came on 19th July 2023 when she scored 86 runs at a strike rate of 110.25 in the 2nd ODI against Bangladesh at Mirpur.