Mumbai, Oct 30 : Capping a splendid season in which he scored the first-ever double century in ODIs and crossed 14,000 runs in Test cricket, iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar was today named the Indian Cricketer of the Year at the second Sahara India Sports Awards function here.
37-year-old Tendulkar, who was earlier named the ICC Cricketer of the Year for his superb show in both Tests and ODIs, beat back the challenge of India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina to be given the honour by the eminent 14-member jury headed by another cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar.
Tendulkar scored 1,064 runs, from August, 2009, to September, 2010, in 10 Tests with six centuries and three fifties. In 17 ODIs, he scored 914 runs with three hundreds, including a world record 200 not out against South Africa at Gwalior on February 24 this year and two fifties during the period under consideration.
"This is the first time I am getting the opportunity to congratulate all sportspersons who have made the country proud. So, congratulations to all of you. I also thank all my colleagues. Without you, this award would not have been possible", the batting maestro said while receiving the award.
Rifle shooter Gagan Narang, who picked up four gold medals in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi earlier this month, and young Jamshedpur-based woman archer Deepika Kumari, who bagged two gold medals in the Games, were declared winners of the best male and female athletes in the multi-sport extravaganza. These were two special awards for performances outside the period under consideration.PTI
The award winners are:
Best Young Achiever (Male)- Asher Noria (Shooting)
Best young Achiever (Female)- Soumya Swaminathan (Chess)
Cricketer of the Year (Male) -Sachin Tendulkar
Cricketer of the year (Female) -Mithali Raj
