Sachin Tendulkar and Salim Durrani bagged top honours while World Cup winning team led by skipper Dhoni was felicitated by BCCI at its awards function.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni thanked not just India but the whole world for supporting the Indian team to win the World Cup.It was not just a billion Indian wishes but a 100 crore more people from outside and not just India but the whole world whose support helped us, said Dhoni after he and his team was gifted Rs 2 crore each for their stupendous effort at a well organized, but low-key BCCI Awards ceremony on Tuesday evening.
Speaking on behalf of his team, Dhoni also chose the occasion to thank the cricket board saying, from school cricket to under-16 cricket to where we are, it is all because of the cricket board and we are thankful to them. It is really a proud moment for us.
The courageous captain praised the efforts of the experienced seniors of his team, but made a special mention about the youngsters. They showed the determination to reflect our plans on the field and that is why we are here.
The evening, however, belonged to the former showman Salim Aziz Durrani, who was honoured with the CK Nayudu Lifetime achievement award. Durrani, who represented India from 1960 to 1973, was given Rs 15 lakh besides a trophy and a citation.
The Kabul-born Afghani-Indian who became famous for hitting a six on demand for once turned emotional and expressed his gratitude in a choked voice. I have no words to express my gratitude, the 76-year-old said.
Durrani remembered the days of India's first captain "CK Nayudu" under whom his father played an unofficial Test. He also recalled a Ranji Trophy match of 1958 where he played against the Colonel.
It was Rajasthan vs Vijaynagaram in 1958 at Benaras and while we had Vinoo Mankad, Vijay Manjrekar and GS Ramchand, they had Mushtaq Ali and CS Nayudu besides the tall CK himself. CK made 84 and hit three sixes. Do chhapre ke upar aur ek Subhash Gupte ko. It was a great experience to see him in action, said Durrani.
He also wished the West Indies-bound Indian team all the success.
Sachin Tendulkar too was honoured for his great feats of 2009-10 wherein he scored a ODI double hundred and 175 besides 1064 runs in Tests. This was a second time that Tendulkar was honoured with the Polly Umrigar Trophy. It feels great to hold this trophy a second time, he said.
Tendulkar also thanked his teammates. Without my fellow members of the team I would not be holding this trophy. I also congratulate the team for first, becoming the No. 1 in Tests and for going on to get something absolutely magical the World Cup.
He termed Dhoni's leadership as terrific and made a special mention for the support staff for all their help.
Roll of Honour
CK Nayudu Lifetime Award: Salim Durrani
Polly Umrigar Award: Sachin Tendulkar
Highest Scorer in Ranji Trophy: Manish Pandey
Highest Wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy: Abhimanyu Mithun
Best Woman Cricketer (Sr): M D Thirushkamini (Tamil Nadu)
Best Woman Cricketer (Jr): Reva Arora (Punjab)
Best U-22 Cricketer: Nataraj Behara (Orissa)
Best U-19 Cricketer: Bhargav Merai (Gujarat)
Best U-16 Cricketer: B Aparajit (Tamil Nadu)
Best Umpire: K Hariharan
Best Overall Performance: Maharashtra
