‘Little Master’ continues to lead the way
INDIA star Sachin Tendulkar has been rewarded for his scintillating form by being crowned Cricketer of the Year at the LG International Cricket Council awards in Bangalore.
The 37-year-old, who has broken almost every batting record in the game, overcame England off-spinner Graeme Swann, India team-mate Virender Sehwag and South Africa batsman Hashim Amla to claim the crown for the first time since its introduction in 2004.
Tendulkar was also named as the first recipient of the inaugural LG People’s Choice Award and was named in both the Test and ODI Teams of the Year.
Despite his advancing years, Tendulkar has enjoyed arguably the most fruitful period of his illustrious career recently.
Since the turn of the year, he reached 1,000 runs in a calendar year for the sixth time – becoming the first player to achieve this feat – and averaged 83.58 in the game’s longest form.
He is currently just two tons shy of becoming the first batsman to register 50 Test hundreds, while his efforts in one-day internationals have been equally impressive.
In February, he became the first man to register a double hundred in ODIs, making a breathtaking 200 not out against South Africa.
‘The Little Master’, who is the most prolific run-scorer in both forms of the game with a combined total of 31,571, also scooped the inaugural LG People’s Choice Award.
Tendulkar said: “It’s fantastic to win this award, I’m really excited to have won two awards and this last season for the entire team has been really special.
“I think right from the start of the season when won in Sri Lanka and I scored a hundred in the finals and from there on the season took off for us. We became number one in the Test rankings, something we all wanted to achieve and we’ve been able to maintain our performances in the last 10 months.
“To win both of these awards tonight, Cricketer of the Year and the LG People’s Choice Award, is special and it’s the game’s way of appreciating someone’s performance. It feels great to have two trophies in front of me and I am feeling very proud and happy.”
“I think right from the start of the season when won in Sri Lanka and I scored a hundred in the finals and from there on the season took off for us. We became number one in the Test rankings, something we all wanted to achieve and we’ve been able to maintain our performances in the last 10 months.
“To win both of these awards tonight, Cricketer of the Year and the LG People’s Choice Award, is special and it’s the game’s way of appreciating someone’s performance. It feels great to have two trophies in front of me and I am feeling very proud and happy.”
ICC President Sharad Pawar congratulated Tendulkar on his victory.
“Sachin Tendulkar has been the focal point of Indian cricket now for some 20 years and over the past year his superb batting and hard work has continued to illustrate his importance in the India team batting line-up. Sachin’s statistics for the last 12 months show how worthy a winner of this accolade he is,” said Mr Pawar.
Other winners on the night included Virender Sehwag, who took the Test Player of the Year award while South Africa batsman AB de Villiers was named ODI Player of the Year. England’s Steven Finn claimed his first ever ICC award when he was named Emerging Player of the Year.
