MSN Indian Sportsperson of the Year: Sachin Tendulkar

Vishwanathan Anand, Vijender Singh, Sushil Kumar, Somdev Devvarman, Saina Nehwal, Pankaj Advani, Mary Kom, Gagan Narang and Ashwini Chidananda, accompanied Tendulkar in the list. Tendulkar though, has made it a habit to come out on the top everywhere. Whether it is on the Centurion wicket, where he registered his fiftieth Test ton, or on the MSN India poll, Tendulkar is a universal chart-topper. Out of the 32.848 overall votes, a whopping 15,854 went in favour of the Little Master. In terms of percentage, 47% of our voters laid their trust in Sachin.

And that Sachin has come first for the umpteenth time is no surprise. The year 2010 has brought many firsts from Tendulkar's blade. His knock of 200 runs in a one-day international against South Africa in Gwalior, forced the statisticians to draw a new column for double century in ODIs. Then, at the end of the year, Tendulkar produced one of the most awaited innings from his bat-the 50th Test ton. The circumstances under which Tendulkar hit the century was reminiscent of his younger days, when he would fighting at one end, while India fell apart at the other.

Making the year all the more special are the big awards and bigger nominations. Sachin has won the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2010 award while he has also been nominated for the hugely prestigious Laureus Sports Awards, the result of which will be known in January 2011.His stunning double hundred in ODI cricket has been featured in Time magazine as one of the top 10 sports moments of the year.

The year 2010 saw the emergence of Sachin Tendulkar as the undisputed King of world cricket. Unlike many 'disputed' years, which debated who was the greatest after Bradman, 2010 simply and fully belonged to Sachin Tendulkar. The year even made Sachin's closest rival of all-time, world-record holder Brian Charles Lara acknowledge Sachin as only next to the Don in cricketing greatness.

In a few days time a new year would be upon us. 2011 is a year, which has been earmarked by Sachin Tendulkar. The master has set his sights on winning the Cricket World Cup. And, we hope that he makes 2011 a most special year, achieving and bettering the goals he has set for the future.