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MUMBAI:
It was a spectacular celebration of 75 years of Indian Test cricket
at the 10th Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence. The brightest
stars of Indian cricket – the past, present and future were
there in full strength as Castrol honoured and felicitated the outstanding
cricketers who have played for India in the last 75 years.
 Speaking
on the occasion, Mr. Naveen Kshatriya – Managing Director,
Castrol India Limited, said, “It is a great honour and privilege
for Castrol to felicitate and recognize the most outstanding Indian
cricketers. These great cricketers have provided unprecedented moments
of joy for millions of Indians across the world and Castrol is proud
to recognize their outstanding achievements through the Castrol
Awards for Cricketing Excellence.”
Amongst
the cricketers who attended the function were stars of yesteryears
like Nari Contractor, Chandu Borde, Ajit Wadekar, Bishan Bedi, Sunil
Gavaskar, Gundappa Vishwanath, EAS Prasanna and BS Chandrasekhar.
Also present were the current heroes, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar,
Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, and of course Dhoni and his T20 champions.
It was indeed heartening to have the young guns of Indian cricket
present to respect and honour their seniors – those who inspired
them to follow their footsteps.
To
recognize the outstanding cricketers of the last 75 years, the period
was divided into six ‘eras’; 1932 – 47, 1947 –
61, 1961 –71, 1971 – 81, 1981 – 97 and 1997 –
2006. Col. C.K. Nayudu, the man they still call the ‘Shahenshah’
of Indian cricket, was nominated as the Castrol Indian Cricketer
for the first era - 1932 – 47. The award was received by his
daughter Chandra Nayudu. The awardee for the second era 1947 –
61, was Vinoo Mankad, the first Indian to complete the ‘double’
of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in Tests. This Award was received by
his son Atul.
Mansoor
Ali Khan Pataudi, the ‘tiger’ of a cricketer who revolutionized
fielding standards and instilled the ‘winning’ habit into
his team, received the Best Indian Cricketer Award for the third
era – 1961 – 1971. He could not make it to the function
due to prior commitments, but sent in a recorded message. The winners
for the next two eras virtually picked themselves. Sunil Gavaskar,
the first batsman to score 10,000 runs, and Kapil Dev, the first
Indian to take 400 Test wickets, won the award for the fourth (1971
– 1981) and fifth era (1981 – 1997) respectively.
The
last era was the decade of the Castrol Awards for Cricketing Excellence
and appropriately, two individuals who have dominated Indian cricket
and the Castrol Awards since their inception in 1997, shared the
award for the sixth era – Rahul Dravid (five-time winner of
the Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year) and Sachin Tendulkar (four-time
winner of the Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year).
One
of the high points of the evening was the felicitation of India’s
Test captains Nari Contractor, Chandu Borde, Ajit Wadekar, Bishan
Bedi, Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Vishwanath, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav
Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, all members of this elite club who were
present on the occasion, were honoured for their outstanding service
to Indian cricket. A special trophy was presented to Ganguly for
being India’s most successful captain in Test cricket.
A pleasant
surprise during the evening was the announcement by Jhulan Goswami,
of Castrol’s intention to start a special category for Outstanding
Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year award for women cricketers.
Jhulan Goswami was a recipient of a special Castrol Award for Outstanding
performance in 2006. More recently, she won the ICC Player of the
Year Award for Women Cricketers.
The
ceremony culminated with a leap into the future. The Castrol Outstanding
Achievement Award was given away this year to the recent ICC T20
Champions.
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