Rohit Sharma out of the fourth Test, Smriti Mandhana wins the Player of the Year and more- Cricket News Today, December 31, 2018

Welcome to Sportskeeda's Cricket News Today, a section that covers a summary of the trending news topics of the day in the world of cricket.

Today, the last day of 2018, saw the last and final cricket match of the year in which hosts Adelaide Strikers beat Sydney Thunder by 20 runs in the Big Bash League, thanks to some brilliant performances from Colin Ingram, Peter Siddle, Alex Carey and Rashid Khan.

Apart from this, a lot of other things happened in the world of cricket over the last 24 hours. Let's take a look at the top news from today.

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Smriti Mandhana wins ICC 'Women's Cricketer' and 'ODI Player of the year' awards

Smriti Mandhana

There is no doubt that Smriti Mandhana had a memorable 2018 and this is very evident by the fact that she has been given the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year apart from winning the ICC ODI Player of the Year award in the ICC annual awards.

In 2018, Smriti scored 669 runs in 12 ODIs at an average of 67 with the help seven 50s and a century against South Africa. In T20Is, she is one of the three players to score over 600 runs and scored her runs at a strike-rate of 130.67.

“The awards are pretty special because as a player when you score runs, you want the team to win, and then when you get acknowledged for your performances through these awards, it motivates you to work harder and do well for your team. The century I scored in South Africa (in Kimberley) [135 off 129] was quite satisfying and then I had good home series against Australia and England,” she told ICC.

Apart from this, the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year and the Women's T20I Team of the Year were named.

ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year: Smriti Mandhana (India), Tammy Beaumont (England), Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Dane van Niekerk (South Africa), Sophie Devine (New Zealand), Alyssa Healy (Australia), Marizanne Kapp (South Africa), Deandra Dottin (Windies), Sana Mir (Pakistan), Sophie Ecclestone (England), Poonam Yadav (India)

ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year: Smriti Mandhana (India), Alyssa Healy (Australia), Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Harmanpreet Kaur (India), Natalie Sciver (England), Ellyse Perry (Australia), Ashleigh Gardner (Australia), Leigh Kasperek (New Zealand), Megan Schutt (Australia), Rumana Ahmed (Bangladesh), Poonam Yadav (India)

Also read: ICC name Women's ODI and T20I team of the year

Rohit Sharma to miss the fourth Test

Rohit Sharma

Indian batsman Rohit Sharma is all set to miss the fourth and final Test match of the four-match Test series between India and Australia due to the birth of his daughter. Instead, he will be travelling back home to be with his wife and his daughter.

BCCI confirmed that the right-hander will miss the match and will join the team on January 8 ahead of the ODI series and did not name any replacement for the Mumbai batsman. So, in all likelihood, Hardik Pandya or R Ashwin will get a spot in the playing XI depending on the nature of the wicket.

The match which will get underway in Sydney will have everything to play for as India will look to win their first-ever Test series win Down Under while the hosts will look to level the series at SCG.

KL Rahul reveals people believed he was dating Hardik Pandya

KL Rahul

With Rohit Sharma ruled out of the fourth Test, both KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya are in contention for a place in the playing XI. The duo will also be the guests in the next episode of Koffee With Karan, a reality show which is hosted by popular Bollywood director Karan Johar.

Karan gets the scoop on cricket, clubbing and man crushes, next week in conversation with @klrahul11 and @hardikpandya7. #KoffeeWithKaran #KoffeeWithKLRahul #KoffeeWithHardik #KoffeeWithCricketers #klrahul #hardikpandya pic.twitter.com/8AQoxM8KxF

— Star World (@StarWorldIndia) December 30, 2018

In the promo video for the next episode, the cricketing duo can be seen talking about the female attention, cheerleaders and many more. The Indian opener, KL Rahul said that the people thought he and Hardik Pandya were dating. While Karan could not control his laugh, Hardik can be seen laughing quietly.

The promo also had a few sequences in which Rahul will try to pull the all-rounder's legs.

Virat Kohli gifts his pads to a young fan after the MCG Test

Virat Kohli

After beating Australia convincingly in the third Test match, Indian captain Virat Kohli looked in a good mood during the post-match presentation and the press conference. After the match, the Indian team thanked the fans in attendance at the MCG and Kohli, who was leading his men from the front in acknowledging the fans, returned with a set of his own pads and gifted it to a young Indian fan who was in the stands.

Kohli handing over his pads to a young Indian fan pic.twitter.com/slY9h3hej4

— Ironicallyexcited (@lunigirly) December 30, 2018

While Kohli was giving it to the young fan, someone else was seen trying to take away the pads from the Indian skipper but he denied him and handed it over to the kid.