Sachin Tendulkar capped a fine year with the most coveted cricketing reward in recent times ‘The Sir Garfield Sobers Cricketer of the Year' Award as the maestro glittered bright amidst a galaxy of leading players at the LG ICC Awards night here on Wednesday. Tendulkar became the second Indian to win the award after Rahul Dravid bagged it in 2004.
After scoring 1,000 Test runs this year besides becoming the first man to score a double hundred in ODI cricket while South Africa wilted against him at Gwalior, Tendulkar scored another double at the awards function as he also won the ‘LG People's Choice Award.'
When asked about getting the award, Tendulkar smiled and quipped: “Better late than never.”
Ever the team-man, Tendulkar said: “This is also a reflection of what we have achieved as a team. Over the last one year we have played in some important games — like the recent one at Mohali where V.V.S. Laxman and Ishant Sharma showed a lot of character.”
The Indian team had a lot more to cheer about as Virender Sehwag, with 1,282 runs in the game's longer version, was adjudged the ‘Test Cricketer of the Year' and M.S. Dhoni was named the skipper of a World Test XI.
“Last year, Gautam Gambhir won this award and I was inspired by that,” Sehwag said.
Bishan Singh Bedi was inducted into the ‘ICC Hall of Fame' along with Joel Garner, Courtney Walsh and former England women's cricketer Rachael Heyhoe Flint.
The event wound to a close on a rousing note as ICC President Sharad Pawar raised his voice a notch and said: “The ICC will not allow Test cricket to die.”
The night then ebbed away in a medley of tunes as ‘ODI Player of the Year' A.B. de Villiers performed with his band.
The awardees:Sir Garfield Sobers Cricketer of the Year: Sachin Tendulkar; LG People's Choice Award: Sachin Tendulkar; Women's Cricketer of the Year: Shelley Nitschke (Australia); Test Player of the Year: Virender Sehwag; ODI Player of the Year: A.B. de Villiers (South Africa); Spirit of Cricket: New Zealand; Umpire of the Year: Aleem Dar (Pakistan); Emerging Player: Steven Finn (England); Associate and Affiliate Player: Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands); Twenty20 International Performance of the Year: Brendon McCullum (of New Zealand for his unbeaten 116 against Australia at Christchurch on February 28, 2010).
Inductees into the ICC Hall of Fame: Bishan Singh Bedi, Joel Garner, Courtney Walsh and Rachael Heyhoe Flint.
ICC Test World XI: M.S. Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Simon Katich, Sachin Tendulkar, Hashim Amla, Kumar Sangakkara, Jacques Kallis, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Dale Steyn and Doug Bollinger.
ICC ODI World XI: Ricky Ponting (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, A.B. de Villiers, Paul Collingwood, M.S. Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Daniel Vettori, Stuart Broad, Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris.
