After winning three awards in the evening, Little Master hints at one thing he now wants to achieve — World Cup.
If winning award in cricket was as important as it is in movies, then Sachin Tendulkar would have been equated with Meryl Streep for notching up so many accolades. The Master earned three awards, including Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer of the Year and a special achievement award for scoring 50 Test hundreds, in this year’s Castrol Awards for cricketing excellence.
When speaking to the audience, he was asked whether he has achieved everything he has wanted to. His reply was: “I have achieved a lot, but there is one thing I still want to do…” He may not have stated the obvious but he hinted at what was one of the many overt and covert indications of cricket’s biggest prize being a topic of discussion in the ceremony.
Fitting well within the theme was the life time achievement award going to the star of India’s 1983 triumph Mohinder Amarnath, who was given the award by another World Cup winner Sunil Gavaskar.
The two Indian legends then recalled their playing days and narrated various instances to the audience. Gavaskar showered rich praise on his former teammate for his bravery and fitness standards.
“He faced some of the most ferocious bowlers ever with such ease. He was terrific. He was one of the fittest players I ever played with. Before the Indian side had fitness trainers, it was Jimmy who used to lead us in that department,” Gavaskar recalled.
Amarnath, who won the man of the match award in both semifinals and final of the 1983 World Cup, said that the current team was the best-ever assembled. “We have so much variety and talent in the team that I am sure we can lift the Cup again.”
Virender Sehwag, who won the batsman of the year, spoke about an interesting partnership he shared with Rahul Dravid, who was awarded for taking the highest number of catches in Tests.
Sehwag said, “I like playing with Dravid. When I hit a ball, he says, ‘good shot’ and when he leaves a ball I say, ‘well left’. That’s our only conversation, we keep it simple and I like it that way.”
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