Sachin adjudged the best in 2009 at the Castrol Awards

Sachin Tendulkar hogged the honours at the Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence for the year 2009.  He won the Indian Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and a Special Achievement Award for becoming the first batsman to score a double century in ODIs and for scoring 50 Test centuries.

 

By CricketCountry Staff

 

Mumbai: Jan 28, 2011

 

Sachin Tendulkar hogged the honours at the Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence for the year 2009.  He won the Indian Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and a Special Achievement Award for becoming the first batsman to score a double century in ODIs and for scoring 50 Test centuries.

 

After receiving the award on Friday evening, Tendulkar said, “The Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence are really special. What makes them special are that they are based on recognition by my peers – fellow cricketers who understand the game and the pressures that go into every performance”.

 

Asked if he has achieved everything in his cricketing career, his reply was quite predictable: “There is still something to achieve and everyone knows that,” an obvious reference to his dream of being part of a World Cup-winning Indian team.

 

Tendulkar also praised Indian coach Gary Kirsten and his contribution in making India the No.1 Test team in the world. “Playing for India was the first objective. Once that was achieved, reaching 35 centuries was my milestone. Reaching there meant was a special achievement,” he said.

The maestro also complimented Sunil Gavaskar and Mohinder Amarnath who had earlier declared the present team as the best India has ever produced.

 

Amarnath, one of the key architects of India’s 1983 World Cup win, was befittingly bestowed the Castrol Lifetime Achievement Award. Gavaskar, who presented him the Award, shared some thoughts on him by calling him the fittest and the bravest player of fast bowler during that era.

 

“When everyone, including me, used to play on the backfoot against the great West Indies fast bowlers, Jimmy was the only batsman who played them on front foot,” Gavaskar opined.

 

Amarnath recollected the strictness with which his father, Lala Amarnath, had brought him up. When asked how he felt about the last ball bowled in the 1983 World Cup, his quick response was: “Sunny still has the ball.”

 

Virender Sehwag who won the Castrol Batsman of the Year 2009 (for Test and ODIs combined) was witty as ever. When the host of the evening, Harsha Bhogle, asked him the secret behind his stamina, “Run kum karo, boundary zyada maaro,” came the witty riposte.

 

Sehwag continued in his humorous vein, “I like playing with Dravid. We speak very less. When I hit a ball, he says, ‘good shot’ and when he leaves a ball I say, ‘well left’.

 

The other winners included Harbhajan Singh, who won the Castrol Bowler of the Year 2009, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who won the Castrol ODI Player of the Year 2009. The Castrol Award for Special Achievement was also given away to Rahul Dravid for becoming the first cricketer to take 200 catches in Test. Yusuf Pathan was given the Castrol Impact Cricketer of the Year for his centuries against New Zealand and more recently against South Africa where he almost won the final match for India.

 

Jaydev Unadkat who won the India Test cap this year was declared the Castrol Junior Cricketer of the Year. Bhogle commented that previously six out of the nine Junior Cricketers who had won this award had gone to represent India.

 

The Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence

 

Award	Winner
Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year	Sachin Tendulkar
Castrol Test Cricketer of the Year	Sachin Tendulkar
Castrol ODI Cricketer of the Year	M.S. Dhoni
Castrol Batsman of the Year	Virender Sehwag
Castrol Bowler of the Year	Harbhajan Singh
Castrol Special Achievement Award for highestnumber of catches in Test Cricket	Rahul Dravid
Castrol Special Achievement Award for scoringa double hundred in ODIs and 50 Test centuries	Sachin Tendulkar
Castrol Impact Cricketer	Yusuf Pathan
Castrol Lifetime Achievement in Cricket	Mohinder Amarnath
Castrol Junior Cricketer of the Year	Jaydev Unadkat

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