Sahara Indian Premier League Awards 2010

 

With the third edition of the Indian Premier League(IPL) entering the stage of grand finale amidst all the high-voltage controversies and allegations, the evening of April 23 witnessed the presentation of the first ever IPL Awards.

 

The glittering ceremony which took place at the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai was embarked by the presence of the best from the world of entertainment and sports. However, strengthening the reports of the BCCI-Modi spat, the bigwigs of the BCCI gave a skip to the event.

 

The BCCI top brass including the BCCI President Shashank Manohar and the Secretary N Srinivasan along with the IPL Vice-chairman Niranjan Shah remained absent from the Sahara Indian Premier League Awards function. Those who marked their attendance at the event were the IPL Governing Council member Sunil Gavaskar and former BCCI President Inderjit Singh Bindra who is the Principal Advisor to the International Cricket Council (ICC).

 

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who turns 37 this Saturday, grabbed the viewers’ choice award for the Best Captain for turning out to be a superb captain leading from the front and taking his team, the Mumbai Indians, through to the finals of the IPL tournament for the first time in the last three years. He also won the award for the Best Batsman, being the highest run scorer in this season of the League, though he gave a miss to the event along with the Chennai Super Kings skipper M.S.Dhoni.

 

Pragyan Ojha received the award for the Best Bowler while Suresh Raina took away the award for the Best Fielder in the viewers’ choice category. Keiron Pollard of Mumbai Indians, who happens to be the costliest player of his team in this year’s auction, was adjudged the Best Debutant performer for the season by the jury.

 

Besides the viewers choice awards, the award ceremony also saw the presentation of the jury awards. The IPL awards jury comprised of Lalit Modi (Chairperson), Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Javagal Srinath, Simon Taufel and Harsha Bhogle.

 

As against the reports of the franchise owners being a little reluctant in attending the ceremony, the glitzy evening show most of them turning up for the event. Vijay Mallya, Nita Ambani without husband Mukesh Ambani, Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty, Raj Kundra, Gayatri Reddy and Jay Mehta were a part of the ceremony.

 

The awards night was co-hosted by Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar. The event was highlighted by the scintillating performance by the Oscar and Grammy award winner AR Rahman. Bollywood stars Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif also brought on their stunning performances at the gala event. Cricketers Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Yusuf Pathan were no behind in shaking a leg with Shahrukh Khan on the stage.

 

The embattled IPL Chairperson and Commissioner Lalit Modi came out to the event with his unfazed smile but his speech in which he extended his thanks to all the franchisees, players, officials and staff certainly gave a clue to the coming adieu.

 

Here’s a complete list of the awards that were being presented during the IPL awards ceremony-:

 

 

Viewers’ Choice Awards:

 

Best Captain: Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians)

 

Best Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians)

 

Best Bowler: Pragyan Ojha (Deccan Chargers)

 

Best Fielder: Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings)

 

Best Catch: David Hussey (Kolkata Knight Riders)

 

Most Stylish Player: Robin Uthappa (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

 

Most Fan-Friendly Cricketer: Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers)

 

Best Commentator: Ravi Shastri

 

 

IPL Jury Awards:

 

Best Batsman: Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians)

 

Best Bowler: Pragyan Ojha (Deccan Chargers)

 

Best Fielder: AB de Villiers (Delhi Daredevils)

 

Best Debutant Player: Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians)

 

Best Dramatic Performance: Harbhajan Singh (Mumbai Indians)

 

Most Consistent Performer: Jacques Kallis (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

 

Best Ground: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

 

Best Stadium Experience: DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

 

 

Breakthrough Performances:

 

Best Breakthrough Performance 2008: Brendon McCullum (Kolkata Knight Riders) for his unbeatable 158*in the first edition of the tournament

 

Best Breakthrough Performance 2009: Anil Kumble (Royal Challengers Bangalore) for his five-for-five against the Rajasthan Royals.

 

 

Statistical Awards:

 

Fastest 100: Yusuf Pathan (Rajasthan Royals)

 

Most Economical Bowler: Ravichandran Ashwin (Chennai Super Kings)

 

Maximum Runs Scored in Boundaries: Virender Sehwag (Delhi Daredevils)

 

IPL Captains’ Choice Award:

  

Eternal Favorite (Indian Player I Would have Liked on my Team): Kapil Dev

 

 

Author: Meenal Johari (Agra)