Published 17:44 IST, October 25th 2019
Bumrah, Mandhana win Wisden India Almanack 'Cricketer of the Year'
Jasprit Bumrah and Smriti Mandhana have won the Wisden India Almanack 'Cricketer of the Year'; they are the only two Indians among the five winners of the award
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Jasprit Bumrah and Smriti Mandhana have been two of the finest Indian cricketers of this generation. Both Bumrah and Mandhana have made the ball and bat do the talking and have won a lot of matches for the country. Now, the two star-studded cricketers have been awarded for their outstanding performances.
Bumrah & Mandhana awarded
The batting and bowling duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Smriti Mandhana are the two Indians among the five winners of the prestigious Wisden India Almanack Cricketer of the Year award which was announced on Friday. Meanwhile, the other winners include the likes of Pakistan opening batsman Fakhar Zaman, Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and Afghanistan cricketer Rashid Khan. Meanwhile, young Test opener Mayank Agarwal's name also features in this list for his outstanding performance in domestic cricket which had paved way to his call-up in the national team in for the longest format of the game. Smriti Mandhana, on the other hand, has now become the third woman to be named 'Cricketer of the Year', after Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma. Stalwarts Gundappa Viswanath and Lala Amarnath are inducted into the Wisden India Hall of Fame. Cricket Country: The Untold History of the First All India Team by Prashant Kidambi has been adjudged the Wisden India Book of the Year.
The Almanack reviewer described it as "a tribute to the game's Indianness" that "superbly describes and analyses the tour (Indians in England 1911) and the politics that led up to it".
Bumrah & Mandhana are currently injured
Both Jasprit Bumrah and Smriti Mandhana are currently recovering from their injuries. Smriti had suffered a toe fracture during a practice session as a result of which she was ruled out of the ODI series against the South African Women's team while Bumrah, who had suffered a stress fracture, was ruled out of the recently concluded series against South Africa. He will not feature in the upcoming series against Bangladesh where India will be playing three T20Is and two Tests starting from November 3. According to sources, the team management did not want to take a chance with him keeping the New Zealand tour in early 2020 and the ICC World T20 in mind.
(With PTI inputs)
17:00 IST, October 25th 2019