ESPNcricinfo Awards 2013: Tendulkar voted cricketer of the generation
Sachin Tendulkar has been voted the cricketer of the generation by a 50-member jury of current and former cricketers and journalists.
Tendulkar beat strong competition from Shane Warne and Jacques Kallis to win the award, presented to mark the first generation of the existence of ESPNcricinfo, which has been online since 1993.
The jury that decided on the award included Michael Holding, Ian Chappell, Martin Crowe, Mark Taylor, Younis Khan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Barry Richards, John Wright and Jeff Dujon, among others.
Mitchell Johnson's series-defining 7 for 40 in the Ashes Test in Adelaide won the Test bowling title for 2013 in the annual ESPNcricinfo Awards, over performances from Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, James Anderson, and Johnson's own Brisbane four-for in the Ashes opener, which kicked off a scarcely believable streak in which he took 59 wickets in eight Tests at a little over 15 runs each.
Shahid Afridi won the ODI bowling award with his 7 for 12 against West Indies - a match he also dominated with the bat, making 76 off 55 balls. It was Afridi's second ESPNcricinfo Award; he won in the same category for 2009.
"I remember this game because I was not picked for the Champions Trophy, and that was my comeback and that was my first game in Georgetown," Afridi said about the award, "and [I produced an] awesome performance in batting and bowling as well, so I am very happy for this."
Indian players took the two batting prizes. Shikhar Dhawan won the Test batting award for his rollicking 187 on debut against Australia in Mohali last year. Rohit Sharma's ODI double-century in Bangalore, also against Australia, was picked as the ODI batting performance of the year.
"It is really a special award, and it was a very special performance, and it is very close to me," Rohit said about winning. "I am very happy that ESPN has recognised this performance of mine. Getting 200 every day is not easy. More than anything else it was a match-winning performance and it helped us win the series. It was a decider game, we wanted to win the game and win the series, so I am happy that it came at the right time and we won the series."
The jury for the performance awards included Mark Butcher, Sanjay Manjrekar, Daryll Cullinan, Russel Arnold, Ian Bishop, Rahul Dravid, and a number of ESPNcricinfo's senior writers.
A new category, the Debutant of the Year, voted on by ESPNcricinfo users, was won by India's Mohammed Shami, who took 17 wickets in his four Tests in 2013, and 30 ODI wickets. Shami beat the likes of Kusal Perera, Ashton Agar, Kyle Abbott, Sohaib Maqsood and Jason Holder to the title.
Also new this year, the Contribution to Cricket Award went to Tarak Sinha, head coach of the Sonnet Cricket Club in Delhi, who has been involved in the development of a remarkable number of Indian Test and first-class players, among them Aakash Chopra, Ashish Nehra and Manoj Prabhakar. Sinha, who was nominated for the award by Rahul Dravid, has coached Ranji Trophy-winning Delhi and Rajasthan teams, and was the coach of the India women's team the first time it won a Test series overseas.
ESPNcricinfo also introduced an award to acknowledge the efforts of cricketers that helped people outside the sport. Rahul Dravid won the Cricket for Good award for his mentorship of junior and paralympic athletes in India in his association with the GoSports Foundation.
South Africans AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn dominated the Statsguru Awards, which are adjudged based purely on statistical data. De Villiers won Batsman of the Year, Best Test Batsman, and Most Consistent Batsman. Steyn was the Bowler of the Year and the Best Test Bowler.
The ESPNcricinfo Awards are now in their seventh year. Past winners have included Dale Steyn, Kumar Sangakkara, Virender Sehwag and Lasith Malinga.
Should have been Kallis hands down. That's from a neutral perspective
Seriously, does anyone care? It's about the game, not the players...
im from india..Should be given to Warne.where is the encourage for bowlers.
If it would have been batsman of the generation then tendulkar but cricketer wise you include batting bowling and catches it should have been kallis but tendulkar being indian with huge population got ahead
should have been kallis.. from an Indian fan
I feel Sachin is the deserved winner of this award. Yes, there has been one better batsman (Brian Lara) and one better cricketer (Jacques Kallis) but in terms of overall achievement no one can come even close to the little man.
I cannot imagine any other player being able to perform under pressure like Sachin did. Lara with his free lifestyle would've stifled under the pressure from a billion cricket fans. Kallis lacks the charisma and the flair of Sachin.
I'm among the lucky ones that saw Sachin right from the beginning of his cricket career and I have to say that the way the man inspired our whole generation is something else altogether.
Kudos Sachin... well deserved.
Batsman of the generation definitely tendulkar but cricketer wise batting bowling and fielding and kallis being a medium pacer definitely it should have kallis but tendulkar is an indian with huge population so deserving
Why is this list so Indian based? Test batting should have gone to either Faf, AB, for that unbelievable 4th innings patnership against... you guessed it, INDIA. How can we forget Brendan macullum Triple century to save a test match against... you guessed it again, INDIA. I appreciate Shami's award, a modern day fast bowler, who is always calm. The panel of judges should aim for more diversity in my opinion.
I'm an Ind..and I really don't care much...
Okay SRT won,,Cool ! He is The Best ,,Cricket has ever seen,,,If he had not been awarded, he would have still been The Best..
Same with KALLIS,,,,He is still The Best All-Rounder,,
Come on...Move on !
A cricketer of a generation should have transformed cricket, beyond mere statistics. His performance should have won more matches for his team than any other player. He should have been head and shoulders above his team mates. Sachin is great, no doubt. But greatest in the generation - no way. This is just a popularity contest!