New Delhi, Tuesday 10 Feb 2009: India’s cricket chiefs Monday named swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag the country’s player of the year for 2007-2008.

Sehwag, 30, will receive the Polly Umrigar award, named after a former India captain, at a function organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in Mumbai on February 18.

Sehwag dominated Indian batting since his return to the Test side on the 2007-08 tour of Australia after being overlooked for the away series against Bangladesh and England and the home matches against Pakistan.

In 2008, the opening batsman scored 1,462 runs in 14 Tests at an average of 56.23, including a blistering triple-century against South Africa in Chennai. Sehwag was also part of India’s World Cup-winning Twenty20 squad in South Africa in September 2007.