Tendulkar was bestowed with the ‘Polly Umrigar Award for India’s best cricketer of 2009-10’ and received a trophy and cheque for Rs five lakh, while Durrani was felicitated with the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for which he received a trophy, a cheque for Rs 15 lakh and a citation.
Members of the World Cup winning Indian team were felicitated and presented cheques worth Rs two crore each by BCCI president Shashank Manohar and BCCI secretary N Srinivasan.
Durrani, who represented India in 29 Tests scoring 1,202 runs at an average of 25 and took 75 wickets, recalled the exploits of Colonel Nayudu in a domestic match that he played while representing Rajasthan in 1958.
“I played against Colonel Sahab for Rajasthan. He was representing Uttar Pradesh in the match at Benaras and made 84. In our team we had great bowlers like Subhash Gupte and Vinoo Mankad, and top batmen like Vijay Manjrekar and myself.
“He (Nayudu) hit three sixes, two of them off Mankad over the roof, and the other of Gupte. I still remember that. It’s an honour to get the award and I thank the BCCI for it,” said Durrani, one of the most popular cricketers of his time who was known to hit a ‘six on demand’.
Among those present were members of the 1983 World Cup winning squad, including then skipper Kapil Dev, Balwinder Singh Sandhu, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sandeep Patil and Yashpal Sharma.
On the occasion, Dhoni thanked fans for supporting the team and said that winning the coveted trophy after 28 long years was a proud moment. “I thank all of you for the support we got throughout the World Cup. Hundred crore people supported us in the country as well as outside. It was a great moment for us.
“When you play for the country, the one thing you want to win is the World Cup. It is a proud moment for all of us. The victory was achieved thanks to the combination of experienced players and youngsters. We exploited the conditions really well. It was a great moment.”
Awards: Best Cricket Association of the Year for overall performance: Maharashtra. Best domestic umpire: K Hariharan.
Madhavrao Scindia Award (for most runs in domestic cricket): Manish Pandey (Karnataka). Madhavrao Scindia Award (for a bowler): Abhimanyu Mithun (Karnataka). MA Chidambaram Award for: Best U-16 cricketer: B Aparajith (Tamil Nadu). Best U-19 cricketer: Bhargav Merai (Gujarat).Best U-22 cricketer: Nataraj Behera (Orissa).
Best woman cricketer: Thirush Kamini (Tamil Nadu).
Best junior woman cricketer: Reva Arora (Punjab).
