Hard-hitting batsman Robin Uthappa and stylish opener Murali Vijay have been nominated in two categories for the Sahara IPL Awards to be held here on April 23.
Uthappa, of Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Chennai Super Kings' Vijay -- none part of the Indian team in the World T20 Championship in the West Indies -- have been shortlisted for the awards in the best batsman and most dramatic performance categories.
RCB's Jacques Kallis, Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar - the tournament's two leading run-getters -- and Super Kings' Suresh Raina are the three others in the running to lift the best batsman award, as per the list of nominees for the jury awards announced today.
Seven players are in the fray to be named the best bowler of the T20 tournament. The list includes spinners R Ashwin of Super Kings and Pragyan Ojha of Deccan Chargers, who are also not part of the T20 team to the West Indies.
The jury consisted of Lalit Modi (chairman), Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Javagal Srinath, Simon Taufel and Harsha Bhogle.
The awards, to be sponsored by the Sahara Group for three years, have been divided into viewers' and critics' choice categories, giving experts and armchair experts alike the chance to decide on who will walk away with the coveted statuettes.
Nominees for Jury Awards: Best Batsman: Jacques Kallis, Sachin Tendulkar, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and Robin Uthappa.
Best Bowler: Ryan Harris, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan Singh, R Vinay Kumar and Zaheer Khan.
Best Debutant: Michael Lumb, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Faiz Fazal, M D Mishra, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger.
Most Dramatic Performance: Yusuf Pathan, Juan Theron, Harbhajan Singh, David Warner, Murali Vijay, Shane Warne and Robin Uthappa.
Most Consistent Performance: Shane Watson, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Kieron Pollard, Andrew Symonds and David Warner.
Best Fielder: Suresh Raina, Keiron Pollard, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, A B de Villiers, Yusuf Pathan and David Warner.
Best Breakthrough Performance: Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum and Sohail Tanvir (for 2008-2009).
Best Stadium Experience: Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi.
Best Ground: Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai -- Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai -¿ D Y Patil Stadium, Mohali, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Nagpur.
