BCCI Awards | The great Indian flex: Trophies and talents

India’s dominance leading to a surfeit of sudden titles, has hitched upon aggressive strokeplay, one hitter more explosive than the next. David who coached the 2024 T20 WC winners, and Sanju, who played in the 2026 title (some might say, dragging India to it single battedly), acing the KOs, had been witness to Sooryavanshi’s IPL debut. The youngster who took the U19 final by storm, and wants to break Chris Gayle’s record of 175, was about to debut for Royals. “Me and Dravid Sir met him before his first match and Sir said we should talk to him. We asked him what he planned to do. He said, “pehla (ball) mila toh pehla hi udda denge.” I thought yeh toh video game khel rahaa Hai,” Sanju remembered. True to word, his first shot was a six over covers.

Tribute to a legendary career and invaluable contribution to Indian Cricket 👏

ICC Chairman Mr. @JayShah felicitates #TeamIndia legend and former Head Coach Mr. Rahul Dravid with the most prestigious Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award 🙌#NamanAwards pic.twitter.com/kKvpY81nDX

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 15, 2026

The immense potential of Indian cricket – the underlying theme of the awards celebration besides chorusing on the triumphs – was also evident in how Women’s captain Harmanpreet acknowledged how watching the U19 women’s team of Niki Prasad, win back-to-back World titles had inspired the seniors team win their’s on November 2nd. The last 10 overs of the 2017 WC final, had haunted Harman enough to replay them over and over in her head, as Indian women struggled to cross the line. “But we watched the U19s win. They were the first ones to bring the Cup. Twice. That inspired us,” she would say.

While 2025’s finest performance of Indian cricket resides with Jemimah Rodrigues, who Harman said had needed a small break before she returned to play the innings of a lifetime against Australia, Niki, the young captain, spoke of “knowing what we needed to do.” India’s Gen Next – men and women – were happily free of self doubts, and basic struggles that their predecessors, like the third Lifetime Achievement winner Mithali Raj, had been wracked with.

Celebrating a legendary journey that transformed women’s cricket in India ✨

ICC Chairman Mr. @JayShah honours former #TeamIndia captain @M_Raj03 with the BCCI Lifetime Achievement Award 👏#NamanAwards pic.twitter.com/gzPaqWRYLC

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 15, 2026

Both Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav would talk about the utter non-necessity of giving advice to the younger bunch, who came armed with fearlessness and clarity. But a team culture, the ethos and values did tend to get passed on. Like Surya crediting the 2024 squad of Rohit-Virat and Dravid for how continuity was respected and players weren’t flung aside, with ingratitude, their experience valued.

“It was not difficult from where we left in 2024 which showed trust in players paid off. Sports has a lot of ups and downs, but we showed belief in players in the new cycle,” he explained about calls to stick with Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy. “We wanted to make as less changes as possible, stand by players who did well. Gautier bhai said, we created a super team so let’s stick by them. We were playing with 8 batters, who were same for last one and half years. They took responsibility and chipped in.”

🗣️ 𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗹𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲.

🎥 Captain Surya Kumar Yadav on #TeamIndia‘s brilliant run in ICC events across formats and his goals for the future 🙌… pic.twitter.com/8vvuI7YSgZ

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 15, 2026

Knowledge also gets transferred in IPL, like MS Dhoni’s golden words to Ayush Mhatre that stayed with him. “Always remain cool. Decisions made in anger are always wrong.” Or Hardik who urges youngsters at Mumbai Indians to stay patient and learn new tricks everyday. The tattooed, blond-haired maverick would also talk of his earliest classical Mumbai influence: Wasim Jaffer. “I used to copy his batting. He had class, and timing.”

Shubman, who emulated his heroes Rohit bhai, Virat bhai, Ash bhai, Mahi bhai from 2013 in winning Champions Trophy, would speak of how trophies inspired the next generation. “As a kid you wanna replicate that moment. To be able to accomplish one of those (CT 2025) was a dream, it was special winning after 12 years. I learnt if you keep focusing on what you have to do, primarily as batsman score runs, all else falls into place.”

It’s how winning trophies became a habit. And India was sitting pretty with 5 of the 8 ICC Cups contested in last two years.

Shivani Naik is a senior sports journalist and Assistant Editor at The Indian Express. She is widely considered one of the leading voices in Indian Olympic sports journalism, particularly known for her deep expertise in badminton, wrestling, and basketball. Professional Profile Role: Assistant Editor and Columnist at The Indian Express. Specialization: While she covers a variety of sports, she is the primary authority on badminton for the publication. She also writes extensively about tennis, track and field, wrestling, and gymnastics. Writing Style: Her work is characterized by "technical storytelling"—breaking down the biomechanics, tactics, and psychological grit of athletes. She often provides "long reads" that explore the personal journeys of athletes beyond the podium. Key Topics & Recent Coverage (Late 2025) Shivani Naik’s recent articles (as of December 2025) focus on the evolving landscape of Indian sports as athletes prepare for the 2026 Asian Games and beyond: Indian Badminton's "Hulks": She has recently written about a new generation of Indian shuttlers characterized by power and physicality, such as Ayush Shetty and Sathish Karunakaran, marking a shift from the traditionally finesse-based Indian style. PV Sindhu’s Resurgence: A significant portion of her late-2025 work tracks PV Sindhu’s tactical shifts under new coaching, focusing on her "sparkle" and technical tweaks to break out of career slumps. The "Group of Death": In December 2025, she provided detailed tactical previews for Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty’s campaign in the BWF World Tour Finals. Tactical Deep Dives: She frequently explores technical trends, such as the rise of "backhand deception" in modern badminton and the importance of court drift management in international arenas. Legacy and History: She often revisits the careers of legends like Saina Nehwal and Syed Modi, providing historical context to current Indian successes. Notable Recent Articles BWF World Tour Finals: Satwik-Chirag have it all to do to get through proverbial Group of Death. (Dec 2025) The age of Hulks in Indian badminton is here. (Dec 2025) Treadmill, Yoganidra and building endurance: The themes that defined the resurgence of Gayatri and Treesa. (Dec 2025) Ayush Shetty beats Kodai Naraoka: Will 20-year-old be the headline act in 2026? (Nov 2025) Modern Cinderella tale – featuring An Se-young and a shoe that fits snugly. (Nov 2025) Other Sports Interests Beyond the court, Shivani is a passionate follower of South African cricket, sometimes writing emotional columns about her irrational support for the Proteas, which started because of love for Graeme Smith's dour and doughty Test playing style despite being a left-hander, and sustained over curiosity over their heartbreaking habit of losing ICC knockouts. You can follow her detailed analysis and columns on her official Indian Express profile page. ... Read More

Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.

© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd