DALLAS, Aug. 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Collegiate Cricket League® (CCL), America’s premier platform for collegiate cricket — which now unites 50 U.S. universities and more than 750 student-athletes representing 12 nations, “Where the World Comes to Play College Cricket” — today announced its 2025–26 season honors, headlined by the All-American selections, the National Player of the Year, Batter of the Year, Bowler of the Year, and the Spirit of Cricket Award.
The honors recognize performance across the full Season II campaign, spanning regional championships in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Atlanta, and culminating at The Collegiate Cup® national championship in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill completed an unbeaten run to its first national title, defeating the University of Georgia by 19 runs in the final.
Selections were made on a full-season, per-match basis, ensuring players from programs that did not reach The Collegiate Cup® were evaluated on equal footing with national finalists.
National Player of the Year
Nitish Sudini, University of Georgia, was named National Player of the Year after finishing No. 1 in The Collegiate Cup® rankings with 1,248 points. Sudini scored 241 runs at a 192.80 strike rate, including a championship-stage century, while adding seven wickets and three Player of the Match awards during Georgia’s run to the national final.
Finalists included Omkar Zope of the University of Pittsburgh, the season’s leading scorer with 698 runs, and Georgia’s Rishi Pandey, who produced the finest single regional campaign in league history with 1,315 points at the Southern Championship.
Batter and Bowler of the Year
Omkar Zope, University of Pittsburgh, earned Batter of the Year after scoring 698 combined runs, including the season’s first regional century, smashed off just 34 balls. He finished the campaign with seven fifties and 71 sixes.
Aditya Josyula, Rutgers University, was named Bowler of the Year after leading the league with 18 wickets. He took 10 wickets at the Atlantic Championship, including a hat-trick, and eight more at The Collegiate Cup®, with economy rates below 6.7 in both tournaments.
Spirit of Cricket Award: Captain of the Year
Rutgers captain Rachit Shah received the Spirit of Cricket Award, the league’s highest cultural honor, recognizing the nation’s top captain who best embodies cricket’s traditions of respect, responsibility, and sportsmanship. The honor also carries an All-American selection.
Shah guided Rutgers from the bottom of the table after a winless group stage to the semifinals of The Collegiate Cup®. When hazardous conditions forced the knockout match against North Carolina to be called, Shah and his teammates accepted the outcome with grace, congratulated their opponents, and represented Rutgers with exceptional character.
“Rachit is the example this league wishes to build its culture from, and he represents the highest standard of what a captain should be,” said CCL Co-Founder and Executive Director Steven Smith. “His school should be incredibly proud of how he represented Rutgers. The Rutgers Cricket Club are all class acts.”
The 2025–26 All-American Class
To be named an All-American is to hold the highest individual playing honor in college cricket. From more than 525 student-athletes, who played in the 2025-2026 season, only 12 are selected across batting, bowling, all-round, wicketkeeping and Spirit of Cricket disciplines.
“This is the first class of All-Americans in the history of college cricket, and these twelve names will be remembered as the ones who set the standard,” said CCL Co-Founder Ashrav Paul. “We built this league so that student-athletes could chase excellence at the highest level while representing their universities, and this class embodies everything we hoped it would become.”
The inaugural class is:
- Omkar Zope, University of Pittsburgh — Batter
- Nitish Sudini, University of Georgia — Batter
- Tanmay Desai, UCLA — Batter
- Sanat Misra, UC Irvine — Batter
- Utkarsh Srivastava, UNC Chapel Hill — Wicketkeeper
- Rishi Pandey, University of Georgia — All-Rounder
- Rakesh Singh, University of Florida — All-Rounder
- Smeet Pandit, UNC Chapel Hill — All-Rounder
- Aditya Josyula, Rutgers University — Bowler
- Abhiram Kalvakuntla, University of Georgia — Bowler
- Aayush Singh, Penn State — Bowler
- Rachit Shah, Rutgers University — Spirit of Cricket Captain
“I would put this All-American Team up against any other country’s All-Star University Team in the world: England, India, Australia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or South Africa. The Collegiate Cricket League has the best XI in collegiate sports globally, period. In fact, that’s a challenge to any other nation that thinks it can compete with us. Bring it on!” said Smith.
Honorable Mentions were Shrey Patel of UT Arlington, Prem Parikh of Rutgers University, Louhith Umashankar of the University of Michigan, Soorya Sathish of Arizona State, and Abhiram Bolisetty of UNC Chapel Hill.
“Every honor on this list was earned on and off the field, weighed match by match across every region in the country and the Collegiate Cup,” said CCL Co-Founder Sid Rao. “These players did not just have great seasons. They showed the skill, the character, and the love of the game that will carry American college cricket onto the world stage, and their universities should celebrate them accordingly.”
And, it’s the skill, the character, and the love of the game that will carry American college cricket onto the world stage — and into leagues like the National Cricket League, where the next generation of American-developed talent is already making its mark.
The CCL will announce its 2026–27 season in the coming weeks, with more universities, more student-athletes and a larger national stage. The first class of All-Americans has set the standard. Next season, a new field will chase it.
About the Collegiate Cricket League
The Collegiate Cricket League is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to elevating cricket at American colleges and universities by unlocking scholarships, varsity recognition, and investments in cricket infrastructure—solidifying its role as the premier pathway for the future of the sport. The Collegiate Cricket League is “Where the World Comes to Play College Cricket.” To support the Collegiate Cricket League’s mission, or to help strengthen your university’s cricket program as an alum, please contact info@collegiatecricket.com or donate online at www.collegiatecricket.com. All donations are tax deductible.
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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2149a49c-861a-4949-854c-a173d75eecbc
