Sachin Tendulkar honoured by Wisden

Tendulkar helped India win the World Cup (GETTY IMAGES)

Sachin Tendulkar has today been named as Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World for 2010.

The master batsman, who began this month with what he described as his proudest moment when he helped India win the World Cup on his home ground in Mumbai, is the seventh recipient of the Wisden award.

Unlike the winners of Wisden's coveted five Cricketers of the Year, it is possible to be named the world's best in the almanack more than once - and Tendulkar is making it an Indian hat-trick, after Test opener Virender Sehwag took the honour in each of the last two years.

Tendulkar, 37 and in the 22nd year of his international career, made more than 1500 Test runs and seven Test hundreds, including an unparalleled 50th overall, in 2010.

He is only one short of 100 international centuries, and last year also became the first to hit a one-day international double-hundred. His citation concludes: "Wisden acknowledges his greatness by naming him as the Leading Cricketer in the World for 2010."

Tendulkar is also inked in for Wisden's 2010 Test XI, at his accustomed number four - Sehwag forming an ultra-attacking opening partnership with Tamim Iqbal.

The Bangladesh left-hander is also named one of the Cricketers of the Year, this year commuted to four rather than five - as Wisden announced last week - because of the criminal conspiracy charges hanging over the unnamed player who would otherwise also have been chosen.

Tamim is the first from his country to receive the accolade, and shares it with England limited-overs find Eoin Morgan - breaking new ground for his native Ireland - the prolific Jonathan Trott and Chris Read, county champions Nottinghamshire's captain, wicketkeeper and batsman.

Tamim features in a world team which also contains two of England's 2010/11 Ashes heroes, off-spinner Graeme Swann and fast bowler James Anderson.

For the first time in the short history of the Wisden Test XI, there is no room for an Australian.