Sikkim women cricketers bag seven NE cricket awards, Samayita wins top honour

GANGTOK, :  The North East Cricket Development Committee (NECDC) celebrated the best performers from the 2023-24 season at the 3rd NECDC Achievers’ Awards Night in Shillong on June 1.

Sikkim cricketers, all women, won seven awards with U23 player Samayita Roy Prodhan winning the title of North East Woman Player of the Season.

Samayita had an impressive season, scoring 362 runs in the BCCI U23 Women’s One Day and T20 tournaments, securing the 13th position among batters in the U23 Women’s One Day Trophy 2023-24. She also won the Best Batter award in Women’s Under-23 category.

Likewise, Purni Maya Gurung was recognized as the Best Batter in Senior Women’s category. Aakriti Sharma won the Best Wicket Keeper award across two categories – Women’s U15 and Women’s U19.

Sabita Luitel and Prenu Manger won the award for Best Bowler in Women’s U19 and Women’s U15 category respectively.

In addition to the players, three support staff from Sikkim were felicitated. They were Kikam Bhutia, who coached NE Zone Team in the Senior Women’s Inter Zonal One Day Trophy; Sonam Palden Bhutia, the coach of the NE Zone teams for Senior Women’s Inter Zonal Multi Day Trophy, Senior Women’s Inter Zonal T20 Trophy and the Duleep Trophy; and Sheril Lepcha, who was re-appointed assistant physiotherapist by Gujarat Giants for the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024.

The event, held as part of the 9th NECDC Conclave, was hosted by Meghalaya Cricket Association. The Sikkim Cricket Association's delegation led by president Tika Subba included treasurer Mukesh Agarwal, councillor (Apex Council) Karma Jigme Namgyal, manager (Cricket Operations) Afzal Hussain, manager (Logistics) Mayelmit Lepcha and the awardees from Sikkim.