BCCI Awards 2024: 'A very touching moment', Ravi Shastri after receiving Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award

Former India cricketers Ravi Shastri and Farokh Engineer were bestowed with prestigious Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Awards during the BCCI Naman Awards ceremony in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The event was attended by cricketers of both the Indian and England teams, as well some of the former cricketers including Shastri himself.

BCCI President Mr. Roger Binny and BCCI Honorary Secretary, Mr. @JayShah present the Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr. Farokh Engineer #NamanAwards pic.twitter.com/4XqM2kmLUE

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 23, 2024

Shastri said that winning the Lifetime Achievement Award was an emotional feeling. “It certainly is (An emotional moment). I thank the BCCI for bestowing this honour on me. It’s a very touching moment for me because when I started my cricket at the age of 17 and I finished at 31, at 30, in fact as a player, BCCI were my guardians right through.

️️ ' @RaviShastriOfc on winning the Col. C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award #NamanAwards pic.twitter.com/WHCpKHo3SJ

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 23, 2024

“They showed me the path to play sport at a time when the bucks weren’t big enough in the game like Farokh mentioned. But, there was pride in playing for your country. I saw the BCCI grow up in these 40 years of mine. To become a powerhouse in world cricket and because of that you can see generations after generations of players benefitting.

“For me this is a very special evening, especially with the women’s team, the men’s cricket team, and the coaching staff of England. There are people here who have been with me through those 40 years. Either as administrators, either as broadcasters, either as players, either as production, people who are on the ground when we play the game, watch the game, commentate on the game. So, it’s a very special evening. Very touching,” said Shastri on receiving the award.

India cricketers Shubman Gill and Deepti Sharma also won big honours at the BCCI Naman Awards ceremony. While Gill won the Polly Umrigar award (Best international cricketer) for the 2022-23 season, Deepti Sharma won the Best International Cricketer award (Women) for the 2019-20 and 2022-23 seasons. Deepti’shastri compatriot, Smriti Mandhana, won the Best International Cricketer (Women) for the  2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

As far as the men’s cricketers are concerned Mohammed Shami was announced as the winner of the Polly Umrigar award for the 2019-20 season, whereas Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah won the same awards for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

Ashwin also went onto win the Dilip Sardesai award for becoming the highest wicket-taker in Tests during the 2022-23 season (India vs West Indies), whereas Yashasvi Jaiswal won the Dilip Sardesai award for highest runs in Test cricket for 2022-23 (India vs West Indies).