Gill set to be named "Cricketer of Year", Dravid to be honoured with THIS award

Team India`s Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill is set to be named the “Cricketer of the Year” at the Board of Control for Cricket in India`s (BCCI) annual awards to be held on March 15.

Despite not being picked in India`s squad for the T20 World Cup 2026, the right-handed batsman enjoyed a decent run in the other two formats.

Shubman amassed 983 runs in Test matches, including the tally of 754 runs in the series against England in 2025, with an average of over 70.

His ODI runs tally stood at 490, including 188 runs during India`s title-winning Champions Trophy campaign. Overall, he garnered 1764 runs across all three formats of the game, with an average of 49, including seven tons and three half-centuries.

His form in the shortest format of the game at the international level was not impressive, but he managed to score 650 runs for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

On the other hand, former Team India coach Rahul Dravid is set to be honoured with the Col. CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award. Under his coaching, the “Men in Blue” clinched the T20 World Cup title in 2024.

Additionally, the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is set to be named as the Best Association in the domestic circuit.

IPL 2026: Opening match`s date and venue

The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, only the schedule of the first 20 matches has been released due to the state elections.

The tournament-opening match is set to be played between defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Earlier this month, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Secretary, Santosh Menon, confirmed that the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will host five of the RCB`s IPL 2026 home games. The venue will also host one of the play-off matches and the title clash of the tournament.

Bengaluru`s remaining two home matches will be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

Cricket at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has been suspended since June last year. Following RCB`s triumph, fans gathered in huge numbers outside the stadium. During the celebrations, 11 people lost their lives, and several were left injured in a stampede.

(With PTI Inputs)