Mumbai: The Indian cricket board decided to confer the Colonel C.K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award on former India cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Colonel C.K. Nayudu Award Committee met here Thursday and chose to nominate Gavaskar for the award which comprises a trophy, citation and cheque for Rs 2.5 million.
“This is Indian cricket’s biggest and highest award and I am honoured and humbled to join the list of the previous illustrious awardees,” Gavaskar said.
One of the all-time greats, Gavaskar represented India in 125 Tests from 1970-71 to 1986-87. He scored a record 774 runs in his debut series in the West Indies and went on to achieve several milestones.
He was the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in Tests and the first to play 100 consecutive Tests. He was also the first batsman to score hundreds in each innings of a Test thrice.
Gavaskar became the first batsman to surpass Sir Don Bradman’s tally of 29 Test centuries.
His greatest triumph as captain was India’s victory in the World Championship of Cricket in 1984-85.
Gavaskar, who regularly commentates, will receive the award at the BCCI awards ceremony to be held shortly, the board said.
The committee also decided to honour seven individuals posthumously with a Special Award for their outstanding contribution to Indian cricket. The kin of each of them received a trophy and cheque for Rs 1.5 million.
Those to be honoured were: Vijay Merchant, Vinoo Mankad, Dattu Phadkar, Vijay Manjrekar, Ghulam Ahmad, M.L. Jaisimha and Dilip Sardesai.
