Kohli conferred with Polly Umrigar award

Star Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been conferred with the prestigious Polly Umrigar Award for being the best international cricketer at the BCCI Annual Awards in Bengaluru last evening.

The 28-year-old swashbuckling batsman, who has been in sublime form, was honoured with the coveted prize for his phenomenal performance in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.

Taking to their official Twitter account, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wrote, "POLLY UMRIGAR AWARD for 2016-17 season goes to #TeamIndia Skipper @imVkohli at #NAMAN. The Skipper also receives the Polly Umrigar Award for his stupendous performances in the 2017-18 season too."

In 2016-17 season, Kohli notched up a total of 1332 runs in 13 Tests at an average of 74 while he contributed 1,516 runs in 27 limited-overs games.

The Indian skipper, on the other hand, amassed 896 runs at an average of 89.6 in six Test matches besides also averaging 75 in ODIs in 2017-18 season.

It should be noted that Kohli is currently undergoing rehabilitation for a neck injury which he sustained during his campaign with the Rajasthan Royals at the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The injury also forced him to miss his much-debated maiden English county stint with Surrey.

Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana received their maiden BCCI awards for being best international cricketer (women) for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 season, respectively.

Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen delivered the 6th MAK Pataudi Memorial Lecture at the BCCI award, thus making him the first non-Indian cricketer to deliver the opening speech of the prestigious awards.

The award function was also attended by Afghanistan team, who are set to play their maiden Test match against India in Bengaluru from June 14.