New Delhi, March 15 Star batters Shubman Gill and Smriti Mandhana were named the Best International Cricketers (Men's and Women's) at the BCCI Naman Awards 2026 here on Sunday, recognizing their outstanding performances in the 2024-2025 season.
Gill won the prestigious Polly Umrigar Award, while Mandhana received the award for the fifth time.
For Gill, it was his second Cricketer of the Year award after first winning it in 2023.
Former stars Roger Binny, Rahul Dravid, and Mithali Raj were honoured with the Col. C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the BCCI's highest honour, recognizing their outstanding service to Indian cricket.
India's five trophy-winning sides (2025 ICC Champions Trophy, 2025 Women's ODI World Cup, 2025 U-19 Women's World Cup, 2026 Men's U-19 World Cup, and 2026 T20 World Cup) were also honoured on the occasion.
Gill had a stellar 2025 and established himself as one of the team's most reliable batters in longer formats.
During the tour of England, captain Gill led from the front in the five-Test series, finishing as the top run-scorer with 754 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75.40, including four centuries and a top score of 269.
Gill also played a key role in India's Champions Trophy triumph last year, having entered the tournament as the No. 1-ranked ODI batter in the world. He scored an unbeaten 101 against Bangladesh in India's opening match, and finished the tournament with 188 runs.
Mandhana finished 2025 with 1,703 international runs, including 1,362 in ODIs, the most by any woman in a calendar year. In doing so, Mandhana became the first batter in women's ODI history to score 1,000 runs in a single calendar year.
Mandhana also made significant contributions to India's maiden Women's World Cup title triumph, aggregating 434 runs in nine matches to end as the tournament's leading run-scorer and the second-highest overall.
Before the World Cup, left-handed batter Mandhana smashed a 50-ball century against Australia in New Delhi, setting the fastest ODI hundred by an Indian batter, surpassing Virat Kohli's 52-ball effort.
Shafali Varma (Best Woman Cricketer Senior Domestic One-Day), Ira Jadhav (Best Woman Cricketer (Domestic)), Harsh Dubey (Best All Rounder in the Ranji Trophy), and Ayush Mhatre (Best All Rounder in Domestic Limited Overs Competitions) also won awards for their strong performances across the 2024-25 domestic season.