Sachin Tendulkar bags top honour at Castrol Awards

Sachin Tendulkar was declared the Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year as well as the Castrol Test Batsman of the Year 2009 at the Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence held in Mumbai on Friday night.

He was also felicitated with a Special Award for his double record feat of becoming the first batsman to score a double century in ODIs and to score 50 test centuries.

Commenting on the award, Sachin said, ?The Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence are really special. The Castrol Awards are the premier awards for Indian cricketers for over ten years now and 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?.

Mohinder Amarnath, one of the key architects of India?s 1983 World Cup win, was befittingly bestowed the Castrol Lifetime Achievement Award.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohinder Amarnath said, ?It is indeed an honour to receive the Castrol Lifetime Achievement Award which has been won by cricketing legends like the Late Vijay Hazare and Polly kaka and also my compatriots like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. The 1983 World Cup win was a great experience and I do hope that the current India team wins the World Cup in our own backyard this time!?

The other winners included Virender Sehwag who won the Castrol Batsman of the Year 2009 (for Test and ODIs combined), 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 matches.

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.