West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul claimed the International Cricket Council (ICC) Player of the Year award on Wednesday. The Guyanese left-hander claimed the most prestigious cricket prize for 2008 by landing the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy at the annual awards function held in Dubai. Chanderpaul edged out Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene and South African strike bowler Dale Steyn for the top accolade. “I'm honored to be given this prestigious award tonight and I'm very thankful to God for blessing me with the talent that I have,” he said. “I would like to thank my family, in particular my wife Amy, for their constant support over the years.” The Guyanese left-hander scored 819 runs at an average of 91.00 for just eight tests, hitting three hundreds and six fifties, during the voting period from Aug. 9 2007 to Aug. 12. Steyn grabbed the Test Player of the Year award after taking 86 wickets in 14 Tests at home, in India and England. Indian wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the top-ranked one-day batsman who also led the side to the World Twenty20 win last year, was the ODI Player of the Year. His compatriot Yuvraj Singh, who hit six sixes in one over against England in that tournament, claimed the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award. Sri Lankan spin sensation Ajantha Mendis claimed the Emerging Player of the Year prize while Australian umpire Simon Taufel was adjudged the best umpire in the game for the fifth year in a row. Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and his South African counterpart Graeme Smith were named captains of the one-day and Test selections respectively. The awards panel was chaired by former West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd and included Australia's Greg Chappell, former South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock, ex-Sri Lanka opener Sidath Wettimuny and former Bangladesh batsman Athar Ali Khan. Awards of the Year: Test Player: Dale Steyn (South Africa); ODI Player: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India); Twenty20 international performance: Yuvraj Singh (India); Emerging Player: Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka); Associate Player: Ryan ten Doeschate (Netherlands); Umpire: Simon Taufel (Australia); Spirit of Cricket: Sri Lanka; Woman Player of the Year: Charlotte Edwards (England). ODI Team: Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Ricky Ponting (Australia, captain) Younus Khan (Pakistan), Andrew Symonds (Australia), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India, wicketkeeper), Farveez Maharoof (Sri Lanka), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Brett Lee (Australia), Mitchell Johnson (Australia), Nathan Bracken (Australia). 12th man: Salman Butt (Pakistan). World Test Team: (in batting order): Graeme Smith (South Africa, captain), Virender Sehwag (India), Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies), Kevin Pietersen (England), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, wicketkeeper), Brett Lee (Australia), Ryan Sidebottom (England), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka). 12th man: Stuart Clark (Australia).
