Explosive Indian opener Virender Sehwag on Wednesday became ‘Wisden Cricketer of the Year’ for the second time in a row, beating off competition from England captain Andrew Strauss and Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan.

The award, which was instituted in 2004, has Australian captain Ricky Ponting, spin wizard Shane Warne and talismanic English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff among its past winners.

The 31-year-old Indian was picked for the honour for a second successive year after scoring “more quickly than any specialist batsman in Tests or one-day internationals”,.

Sehwag apart, English wicketkeeper Matt Prior, spinner Graeme Swann, batsman Graham Onions, pacer Stuart Broad and Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke were the ‘Five Cricketers of the Year’ chosen by the magazine.

Sehwag averaged 70, with a strike-rate of 108.9, in the Tests he played last year. In one-day internationals, Sehwag had a strike-rate of 136.5 while averaging 45.

Strauss and Dilshan were also nominated by several correspondents who were consulted about this award but fell short of Sehwag.

Source: NDTV Cricket