Gambhir, Amarnath hog limelight at BCCI awards

Hero of the 1983 World Cup, Mohinder Amarnath and in-form opener Gautam Gambhir hogged the limelight at the annual awards function of the Cricket Board held in Mumbai on Sunday.

Amarnath who followed in the footsteps of his illustrious father Lala was bestowed with the Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, comprising a trophy and Rs 15 lakh. Former India captain Lala Amarnath was the first recipient of the prestigious award in 1994.

Left-handed batsman Gambhir, who missed the third and final Test against Sri Lanka to attend his sister's wedding, received the Polly Umrigar Award for being India's best cricketer between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009.

The Delhi batsman, who received a trophy and a cheque for Rs 5 lakh, scored 1269 runs from eight Tests at 84.6 (inclusive of five hundreds), during this phase with memorable efforts of 206 against Australia at Delhi, and a match-saving ten-hour marathon worth 137 against New Zealand at Napier.

He also scored 670 runs from twenty-one ODIs, and 177 runs from eight T20 Internationals, during this period. Special awards in the form of mementos were given to Indian team stalwarts Rahul Dravid (for taking the most number of catches) and Sachin Tendulkar (for completing two decades of international cricket).

Ranji Trophy heroes Rajinder Goel and Amarjit Kaypee, the highest wicket-taker (640 wickets) and scorer (7623 runs) respectively in the first seventy-five seasons of the championship that has (1934-35 to 2008-09), were also felicitated, along with 38-time title-winners Mumbai.

Amish Saheba, member of the ICC's International Umpires' Panel, was conferred with the newly instituted "Best Umpire" award by the BCCI.

Other winners:

Wasim Jaffer (Mumbai): Madhavrao Scindia Award for scoring the maximum runs in 2008-09 Ranji Trophy - Trophy and cheque for Rs. 1 lakh

Dhawal Kulkarni and Ravindra Jadeja: Madhavrao Scindia Award for taking the maximum number of wickets in 2008-09 Ranji Trophy - Trophy and cheque for Rs. 1 lakh each.

Chirag Khurana (Maharashtra): M A Chidambaram trophy for best under-16 cricketer of 2008-09 - Trophy and cheque for Rs 50,000

Harpreet Singh (Madhya Pradesh): Chidambaram trophy for best under-19 cricketer of 2008-09 - Trophy and cheque for Rs 50,000

Neelkanth Das (Bengal): Chidambaram trophy  for best under-22 cricketer of 2008-09 - Trophy and cheque for Rs 50,000

Reema Malhotra (Delhi): Chidambaram trophy for best woman cricketer (sr) of 2008-09 - Trophy and cheque for Rs 50,000

Poonam Raut (Mumbai): Chidambaram trophy for best woman cricketer (jr) of 2008-09 - Trophy and cheque for Rs 50,000

Mumbai and Punjab Cricket Associations - Best overall performance in 2008-09 - Trophy each.