Sehwag named Wisden Cricketer of the Year again

Indian opener Virender Sehwag was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year for the second time in a row.

Sehwag received the honour for a second successive year after scoring "more quickly than any specialist batsman in Tests or One-Day Internationals".

The 31-year-old Indian beat off competition from England captain Andrew Strauss and Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan.

English wicketkeeper Matt Prior, spinner Graeme Swann, batsman Graham Onions, pacer Stuart Broad and Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke were the Five Cricketers of the Year chosen by the magazine.

Sehwag averaged 70, with a strike-rate of 108.9, in the Tests he played last year. In One-Day Internationals, Sehwag had a strike-rate of 136.5 while averaging 45.

The award, which was instituted in 2004, has Australians Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne and talismanic English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff among its past winners.