Sachin Tendulkar Cricketer of the Generation
Sachin Tendulkar has been voted the cricketer of the generation by a
50-member jury of current and former cricketers and journalists.
Tendulkar beat strong competition from Shane Warne and Jacques Kallis
to win the award, presented to mark the first generation of the
existence of which has been online since 1993. The jury that decided on
the award included Michael Holding, Ian Chappell, Martin Crowe, Mark
Taylor, Younis Khan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Barry
Richards, John Wright and Jeff Dujon, among others.
Mitchell Johnson's series-defining 7 for 40 in the Ashes Test in
Adelaide won the Test bowling title for 2013 in the annual ESPNcricinfo
Awards, over performances from Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, James
Anderson, and Johnson's own Brisbane four-for in the Ashes opener, which
kicked off a scarcely believable streak in which he took 59 wickets in
eight Tests at a little over 15 runs each.
Shahid Afridi won the ODI bowling award with his 7 for 12 against
West Indies - a match he also dominated with the bat, making 76 off 55
balls. It was Afridi's second ESPNcricinfo Award; he won in the same
category for 2009.
"I remember this game because I was not picked for the Champions
Trophy, and that was my comeback and that was my first game in
Georgetown," Afridi said about the award, "and I produced an awesome
performance in batting and bowling as well, so I am very happy for
this."
Indian players took the two batting prizes. Shikhar Dhawan won the
Test batting award for his rollicking 187 on debut against Australia in
Mohali last year. Rohit Sharma's ODI double-century in Bangalore, also
against Australia, was picked as the ODI batting performance of the
year.
"It is really a special award, and it was a very special performance,
and it is very close to me," Rohit said about winning. "I am very happy
that ESPN has recognised this performance of mine. Getting 200 every day
is not easy. More than anything else it was a match-winning performance
and it helped us win the series. It was a decider game, we wanted to win
the game and win the series, so I am happy that it came at the right
time and we won the series."
The jury for the performance awards included Mark Butcher, Sanjay
Manjrekar, Daryll Cullinan, Russel Arnold, Ian Bishop, Rahul Dravid, and
a number of ESPNcricinfo's senior writers.
A new category, the Debutant of the Year, voted on by ESPNcricinfo
users, was won by India's Mohammed Shami, who took 17 wickets in his
four Tests in 2013, and 30 ODI wickets. Shami beat the likes of Kusal
Perera, Ashton Agar, Kyle Abbott, Sohaib Maqsood and Jason Holder to the
title.
Also new this year, the Contribution to Cricket Award went to Tarak
Sinha, head coach of the Sonnet Cricket Club in Delhi, who has been
involved in the development of a remarkable number of Indian Test and
first-class players, among them Aakash Chopra, Ashish Nehra and Manoj
Prabhakar.
Sinha, who was nominated for the award by Rahul Dravid, has coached
Ranji Trophy-winning Delhi and Rajasthan teams, and was the coach of the
India women's team the first time it won a Test series overseas.
ESPNcricinfo also introduced an award to acknowledge the efforts of
cricketers that helped people outside the sport. Rahul Dravid won the
Cricket for Good award for his mentorship of junior and paralympic
athletes in India in his association with the GoSports Foundation.
South Africans AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn dominated the Statsguru
Awards, which are adjudged based purely on statistical data. De Villiers
won Batsman of the Year, Best Test Batsman, and Most Consistent Batsman.
Steyn was the Bowler of the Year and the Best Test Bowler.
The ESPNcricinfo Awards are now in their seventh year. Past winners
have included Dale Steyn, Kumar Sangakkara, Virender Sehwag and Lasith
Malinga. cricinfo |