Ashwin wins International Cricketer of the Year award

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was conferred the much-desired International Cricketer of the Year award at the CEAT Cricket Rating (CCR) International awards 2017 on 24 May 2017.

The award was presented by former Indian Cricket Captain Sunil Gavaskar and Chairman of RPG Enterprises Harsh Goenka at a function held at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai.

The award is the player’s second one, as he had won the ICC Cricketer of the Year award in 2016 as well. With this, he has joined the ranks of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, the only two other Indian cricketers to have received the honour.

While receiving the award, Ashwin recalled of how he had taken his first autograph from Gavaskar himself at the Chepauk stadium in Chennai.

He also praised Tamil Nadu off-spinner Washington Sundar for his impressive debut performance in the IPL final while playing for Rising Pune Supergiant.Washington, who came in as a late replacement for the injured Ashwin, set a new record by becoming the youngest player to play in an IPL final.

Ashwin, with 99 wickets in the past 12 months, played a significant role in India’s successful run during the home season, where it won 10 out of the total 13 tests played against New Zealand, Australia, England and Bangladesh.

Besides this, young Indian batsman Shubhman Gill won the Young player of the year award for his superb performance during the India-England U-19 ODI series, which was played in Mumbai.