LONDON - Sachin Tendulkar has been named Wisden's Cricketer of the Year for 2010, crowning a golden month for "the little master" who also saw him play a starring role in India's World Cup triumph.
Tendulkar's honour from the cricketing bible means India has won the accolade three years running following the back-to-back awards for Virender Sehwag in each of the previous two years.
It follows another prolific run-scoring year for the 37-year-old, who rattled off more than 1,500 Test runs including seven Test hundreds, including a record 50th overall, in 2010.
Tendulkar is also on the brink of hitting 100 international centuries, currently on 99. He also became the first player to hit a double-century in a one-day international.
"Wisden acknowledges his greatness by naming him as the Leading Cricketer in the World for 2010," Tendulkar's citation in Wisden read. Tendulkar's batting also saw him earn a spot in Wisden's 2010 Test XI, along with Sehwag and Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal. Other players to feature in the world XI were England off-spinner Graeme Swann and fast bowler James Anderson. However for the first time, no Australian has been included in the all-star line-up.
