Karachi, Jun 27: Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly left behind many stalwarts of the game to become the first recipient of the Castrol Asian Cricketer of the Year Award while batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged as the best batsman in ODIs at a function held here .

Ganguly, who made one of the most memorable come backs, has had a series of successful innings since his return and was also declared as the overall Castrol Asian Batsman of the Year. Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, who has had an amazing run in the shortest format of the game, was awarded the best batsman in the Twenty20 cricket, while Yuvraj Singh was given away a special award for his six sixes in an over in the Twenty20 World Cup. The overall Castrol Asian Bowler of the Year Award was won by Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan who also entered the record books in 2007, becoming the highest wicket taker in Test matches. The Castrol Asian Wicket Keeper/Fielder of the Year award went in to the kitty of Pakistan's Kamran Akmal who was axed from the ongoing Asia Cup squad. The Castrol Asian Awards are based on a comprehensive points system which takes into consideration batting, bowling and fielding performances of each player against all teams in all international matches, in all three formats - Test, ODIs and T20, during a calendar year.

Besides the overall category, the Castrol Awards were also given away for the Castrol Asian Batsmen and Bowler in Test Cricket which were bagged by Kumar Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan respectively.

The Castrol Asian Batsman and Bowler in ODIs was won by Sachin Tendulkar and Ferveez Maharoof of Sri Lanka. Gautam Gambhir and Umar Gul.

UNI