Kohli takes top BCCI award for 2011-12

Virat Kohli has been named the Indian Cricketer of the Year for 2011-12, picking up the Polly Umrigar Award trophy and a cheque for Rs 5 lakh (US$9000 approx) at the BCCI awards function in Mumbai on Wednesday night.

At the awards, Sunil Gavaskar also received a lifetime achievement award and Sachin Tendulkar was honoured for scoring his 100th international ton. VVS Laxman, who retired in August, was felicitated for his achievements in international cricket.

Kohli was one of the only positives to emerge from the disastrous away Test series against Australia for India, scoring a hundred in the Adelaide Test. In the ODI series that followed, with India needing to chase down Sri Lanka's target of 321 in 40 overs in Hobart to stay alive in the Commonwealth Bank Series, Kohli delivered with 133 not out of 86 balls, getting India home in 36.4 overs. Following the tour, he was named vice-captain of the ODI team, and three matches later, he put in a similar performance during his 183 in the Asia Cup against Pakistan - there India were chasing 330, and his knock came off 148 balls as India won with over two overs to spare. His form in limited-overs cricket meant he bagged the ICC's ODI Cricketer of Year Award in September too.

Bengal's Ashok Dinda picked up Madhavrao Scindia Award for the most wickets in the 2011-12 Ranji Trophy season - Dinda had finished second on the wickets chart, but got the award ahead of Madhya Pradesh's TP Sudhindra, who was handed a life ban after being found guilty of "receiving a consideration to spot-fix" in a domestic game in June.

Rajasthan's Robin Bist, who with 1034 at 86.16 became one of only a handful of batsmen to aggregate over 1000 in a season, won the batting award, while Karnataka's Stuart Binny was named Allrounder of the Year.

Awards list:
CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award: Sunil Gavaskar
Special Award: VVS Laxman
Polly Umrigar Award for Cricketer of the Year: Virat Kohli
Madhavrao Scindia Award for Most Runs in Ranji Trophy: Robin Bist
Madhavrao Scindia Award for Most Wickets in Ranji Trophy: Ashok Dinda
Lala Amarnath Award for the Best All-rounder in Ranji Trophy: Stuart Binny
Lala Amarnath Award for the Best All-Rounder in limited-overs tournaments: Laxmi Ratan Shukla
Legends honoured posthumously: Vijay Merchant, Vinoo Mankad, Dattu Phadkar, Ghulam Ahmed, Vijay Manjrekar, ML Jaisimha, Dilip Sardesai
MA Chidambaram Award for the Best U-16 Cricketer: Mohammad Saif (Uttar Pradesh)
MA Chidambaram Award for the Best U-19 Cricketer: Vijay Zol (Maharashtra)
MA Chidambaram Award for the Best U-22 Cricketer: Satyam Choudhary (Madhya Pradesh)
MA Chidambaram Award for the Best Senior Lady Cricketer: Anagha Deshpande (Maharashtra)
Best Umpire in Domestic Cricket: S Ravi
Best Association: Delhi & District Cricket Association