Virat Kohli to receive Polly Umrigar Award, R Ashwin nominated for Dilip Sardesai Award

India captain Virat Kohli was on Wednesday nominated for the prestigious ‘Polly Umrigar award’ presented to the ‘International Cricketer of the Year’ while all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin will be receiving the ‘Dilip Sardesai award’ for ‘Best Performance in Bilateral Series’.

For Kohli, this will be the third time that he will be conferred with this award after 2011-12 and 2014-15 season.

Kohli has been India’s highest scorer across all three formats and deservingly gets the award. Ashwin will also become the first cricketer to receive the ‘Dilip Sardesai Award’ twice.

The all-rounder first won the award instituted to honour the best performance in the bilateral Test series between India and West Indies after being named the Man of the Series in the three-match Test series in 2011.

In the four-match Test series against West Indies last year, Ashwin again picked up the Man of the Series award for his outstanding show. In four Tests, he scored two centuries and picked 17 wickets including two five-wicket hauls.

The BCCI Annual Awards committee consisting of N Ram, Ramachandra Guha and Diana Edulji had already nominated domestic legends Rajinder Goel and Padmakar Shivalkar for the Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Mumbai Cricket Association has been chosen as the State Association of the Season (2015-16) for winning the Ranji Trophy, the CK Nayudu Trophy and also the Women’s Plate League Group. They were runner-up in the Cooch Behar Trophy, the Vijay Merchant Trophy and the Women’s One-Day Elite Group.