1997-98	1998-99	1999-2000
Jyoti Prasad Yadav	Rajesh Pawar	Yuvraj Singh

Lifetime Achievement Award
Captain Vijay Hazare with an outstanding career record in cricket, was awarded the first Castrol Lifetime Achievement Award instituted in Year 2000, to honour an Indian individual or institution that has made a significant contribution to the game, on or off the field.

His long-time colleague Vijay Merchant called him 'a disciplined soldier'. It was a description both literal and figurative. For Vijay Hazare was a soldier, having served as a Captain in the state army of his adopted place of stay, Baroda. But it was more as a cricketer, that Hazare 'soldiered' his teams; be it Maharashtra, Central India, Baroda, or the national team, in an age of conflict and transition in Indian cricket, as indeed, in India.

Indian cricket’s first triple centurion. The first Indian to achieve the 1000 and 2000 run-mark in Test cricket. The first Indian to score a century in each innings of a Test. The first Indian to score 6000 runs in the Ranji Trophy.

Hazare made his Test debut on the Nawab of Pataudi's tour of England in 1946. He stood second in the batting and bowling averages on the tour, but felt that he had not done enough justice to his abilities. He continued to shine at home, adding a world-record 577 with Gul Mohammad against Holkar, led by his old mentor C.K. Nayudu, in the Ranji Trophy final of 1946-47. A year later, the Indians embarked on a tour of Australia, their first official tour as an independent nation.

Up against a formidable side, led by 'the Don' himself, the Indians were routed 0-4. But the fourth Test of the series at Adelaide marked a watershed for Vijay Hazare and for Indian cricket. The Indians were tottering at 69-3 in reply to Australia's 674 when Hazare walked out to bat. He made 116, and with the support of Dattu Phadkar, he took India to a total of 381. Hazare was back at the crease in no time, the scoreboard reading 0-2 as the Indians were made to follow on. Watched by 'the Don' and a bowling attack that comprised of Miler, Lindwall, Johnson and Toshack, Hazare batted gloriously to make 145, his second hundred in the match, a gallant effort in a losing cause.

It was by far the most outstanding achievement by an Indian Test cricketer till that point, and it established India’s credentials as a team with the potential to take on the best in world cricket.

The next three seasons belonged to Hazare Averages of 72.16, 101.50 and 80.33 in the Ranji Trophy, coupled with his consistency against the touring West Indians in 1948-49 and the Commonwealth sides, brought Hazare into the reckoning for the captaincy of the Indian team. He got the job, and had the honour of leading India in her first-ever Test win, against England at Madras in 1951-52. As captain of a despondent Indian team in England in 1952, Hazare’s was one reputation the rampaging Fred Trueman could not destroy. He lost the captaincy to Lala Amarnath for the next series against Pakistan, but regained it for India’s maiden tour of the Caribbean.

In the twilight of a great career, Hazare bid adieu to Test cricket after this tour and returned to his Ranji roots. He scored the 10th double hundred of his career as his adopted state, Baroda, defeated the Services in the Ranji Trophy final in 1957-58. Hazare bowed out of competitive cricket a couple of seasons later, but his services to Indian cricket didn’t there.

Hazare had led India to her first Test win in 1951-52. And exactly a decade later, in his new role as Chairman of the Indian Selection Committee, he had the honour of presiding over India’s first-ever series win over the same team. During the same series, Hazare was also responsible for the inclusion of a remarkable 21 year-old, who had hardly played in India, but had in him all the qualities of a winner; Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

Hazare received the Padma Shri in 1960, and was also conferred an honorary life-member of cricket’s most revered institution, the MCC. The role-model of an entire generation of Indians now leads a life of tranquility at his home in Baroda.

VIJAY HAZARE: STATISTICS

Test cricket:

M	I	N.O	H.S	Runs	100s	Av	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wkts	Av
30	52	6	164*	2192	7	47.6	444.2	97	1220	20	61.00

Ranji Trophy:

I	N.O	H.S	Runs	100s	Av	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wkts	Av
104	12	316*	6312	22	68.6	2836	897	5765	291	19.8

Pentangular:

I	N.O	H.S	Runs	100s	Av	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wkts	Av
14	2	309	1212	4	101.0	326	91	662	20	33.1

Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh is the Castrol Junior Indian Cricketer of the Year 1999-2000. He beat out Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Ravneet Ricky, Shalabh Srivastava and Niraj Patel.

Even before being announced as the Castrol Junior Cricketer Yuvraj made a spectacular debut for India against the powerful Aussies in the ICC Knockout tournament in Nairobi in 2000. Since then he has captured the imagination of the Indian cricket fans with his explosive batting and athletic fielding.

He is touted as one of the brightest prospects of the Indian cricket scene. After his all round performances in the limited overs version of the game in the last year he seems to be justifying the honour bestowed upon him by Castrol.