LONDON: Sachin Tendulkar has been named Wisden's Cricketer of the Year for 2010, crowning a golden month for “the master blaster” which also saw him play a starring role in India's World Cup triumph. Tendulkar's honor from Wisden 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. Pakistan hopes on youngsters Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said Wednesday that he hopes to use the upcoming tour of the West Indies to bring on new cricketing talent for the years ahead. The side flies out to the Caribbean Thursday for a tour that will include one Twenty20 international, five one-dayers and two Tests. With express paceman Shoaib Akhtar retired and fellow fast bowler Umar Gul rested, Pakistan has selected left-armers Junaid Khan and Sadaf Hussain – both 21 – and 20-year-old all-rounder Hammad Azam. “We have selected some youngsters for the tour in the hope that they get groomed and serve the country in the future,” Waqar said at the conclusion of a two-day training camp in the eastern city of Lahore. Junaid has 167 wickets in 35 first-class matches, while Hussain's tally in 18 domestic matches stands at 90. “We are not taking the West Indies team lightly. We also have experience at our disposal and we hope to do well on the tour,” said Waqar. Pakistan failed to persuade former great Javed Miandad to serve as batting coach and Waqar said the team should look elsewhere. “I don't know why we go round and round and come back to Miandad again and again,” said Waqar. “If Miandad doesn't want to do the job then we must ask someone else for help because it's not an issue of technique, it's an issue of slight adjustment in batsmen scoring runs.”
