Following his phenomenal showing in the past two seasons, India skipper Virat Kohli will be presented with the prestigious Polly Umrigar award for the best international cricketer (2016-17 and 2017-18) at the BCCI Awards to be held in Bengaluru on Tuesday, the board announced on Thursday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Awards recognises and honours the top domestic and international cricketers across all age groups.
While Kohli gets top honours in the men's category, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana are set to be maiden recipients of the award for best international cricketer (women) for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons respectively.
To honour one of its finest administrators, the BCCI has rechristened four awards in memory of former board President Jagmohan Dalmiya.
The Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy will be presented to the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker respectively in the U-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy and to the Best Junior and Senior Cricketer in women's cricket.
The BCCI has also raised the prize money for nine categories by Rs 1 lakh and the revised prize money is Rs 1.5 lakh.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) has been adjudged the best State Association owing to their consistent performance in the BCCI domestic tournaments for the 2016-17 season while the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) wins it for the 2017-18 season.
Congratulating the winners, the Committee of Administrators (CoA) Chairman Vinod Rai said: "I congratulate all the winners of the BCCI Annual Awards. The last two years have been fabulous for Indian Cricket with both the men and women's teams doing very well. We are proud of their achievements and this is our small way of acknowledging their on-field efforts."
BCCI Acting President CK Khanna in his message said: "The BCCI Annual Awards is an occasion where former greats of the game, the present generation and the stars of tomorrow come under one roof. For BCCI, it is an opportunity to show its gratitude towards cricketers who enrich this game with their skills and hard work."