Gambhir wins Castrol best cricketer of 2008 award

Mumbai:

India opener Gautam Gambhir on Thursday edged out teammate Virender Sehwag to be named the Castrol Cricketer of the Year 2008 at a glittering function on Thursday.

Gambhir, who was declared fit today to travel to South Africa with the Indian squad for the ICC Champions Trophy after missing the previously held triangular series in Sri Lanka, received Rs five lakh and a trophy.

The left-hander, who scored over 1000 runs in Tests and ODIs in 2008, also won the best batsman of the year award while feisty off-spinner Harbhajan Singh won the best bowler of the year honours, worth a trophy and Rs two lakh each.

Swashbuckling batsman Sehwag and India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni were declared the Test and One-Day cricketers of the same year.

Out of action since May because of a shoulder injury, Sehwag was personally present to receive the award while Dhoni, having addressed a media conference a couple of hours earlier at the same hotel, did not attend the function.

Both received Rs two lakh and a trophy to go with the award.

Former India middle order mainstay Gundappa Viswanath received the "Lifetime Achievement" award worth Rs five lakh while all rounder Ravindra Jadeja was named the best young cricketer of the year.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and another stalwart Rahul Dravid were given special performance awards for becoming the first batsman to cross 12,000 runs in Tests and becoming the leading catcher in the traditional format of the game respectively.