Cricket Oscars 2013 - The 15 award winning performances

The Academy Awards left the world dazed last night with Hollywood's showpiece event grabbing eyeballs world over.Taking a cue from the west then, here are cricket's own Oscars, with deserving candidates walking away with the top awards.In case you think someone else was more deserving of any of these, just take a moment and think about Leonardo DiCaprio. The world will look a lot fairer then.

#1 Best Cricketer (Critics) - AB de Villiers

With the ideal mix of textbook shots and audacious hits emanating from his bat, AB de Villiers is a dream come true for cricket fans.

With match-winning performances IPL and Tests alike, ABD has been pushed on to a pedestal of the genuine all-rounder, driven by the fact that as a batsman, he can flourish irrespective of conditions and formats.

Included in that spectacular resume, is de Villiers's fielding ability which makes him one of the top athletes in world cricket currently. Though he has traded freedom in the field with keeper's gloves, he remains the safest bet for South Africa's pace battery behind the stumps.

#2 Best Cricketer (popular) - Virat Kohli

More than once over the past year, Virat Kohli has drawn comparisons with Sir Viv Richards and Sachin Tendulkar. That alone, before a look at the stats, should make him a leading contender for the best player award.

Kohli is challenging ODI records like Sir Viv and Sachin did in their heydays, leaving a trail of destruction in their path. India's heir apparent, Kohli is fast increasing the gap between him and other great players of his era, and if he maintains this consistency, Sachin's seemingly unbeatable records in ODIs will not remain out of reach after all.

#3 Best visual effects - Chris Gayle\'s 175

It was an innings of a lifetime. For once, T20 cricket left all inhibitions behind, and became the much-maligned harbinger of doom for bowlers at M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.

Chris Gayle lifted power hitting a notch up when he smashed 17 sixes and 13 fours against Pune Warriors India, making 175 runs off just 66 balls. It was a visual treat for spectators who enjoyed the 'special effects' resulting from Gayle's pure power hitting spree.

The highlights package of that knock is still the most unedited version of an original innings. Limited uploads on internet due to copyright issues remains the sole source of happiness for those bowlers whose souls were scarred to the core that evening in Bangalore.

#4 Best Producer (Cricket Board president) - N Srinivasan

N Srinivasan's involvement in IPL spot-fixing/betting scandal may be a tad less obvious than an LBW appeal against Shane Watson, but the India Cements head still calls the shots when it comes to governance of global cricket.

Whether it be giving opportunities to cricket enthusiasts or whipping votes in favour of a new world order, Srinivasan has been the man at the centre of it all off the field.

#5 Best Director (Coach) - Darren Lehmann

Taking over a script which had gone awry, Boof brought renewed energy in the cast and delivered some unexpected blockbusters, burying the memories of Homeworkgate and delivering a whitewash of his own by the end of the year.

Players have admitted that dressing room has become fun again, and the results are showing for Australians. England have been annihilated, Proteas humbled, and now Lehmann will put his sights on sustaining the positives once the honeymoon period is over.

#6 Best cricketer in supporting role - Steve Smith

An impressive tour of India and IPL was followed by injury concerns, but Steve Smith found his way back in national reckoning in England for the Ashes, and has been Australia's silent support system since.

He's hit timely half-centuries and a century, especially when Australia required it the most from him to just hang in there in the face of a collapse. Be it India, England or Australia, Steve Smith's presence down the order has been a source of calm for the Aussies.

#7 Best match (Test) - 1st Test, South Africa vs India, Johannesburg

South Africa have a record of chasing down improbable targets. Twice against Australia, they have done the inevitable, once each in Tests and ODIs, and when it came India's turn to stare down the barrel, it was nothing short of an emotional upheaval when the greatest Test match of 2013 ended in a draw.

Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers almost pulled off a miracle win for South Africa, chasing a world record 458, and had it not been for Mohammed Shami and Ajinkya Rahane, India would have faced an even worse scenario at the end of the day.

#8 Best match (T20) - Lions vs Otago, Champions League T20

Tie matches are rare in cricket, and never before this nerve killer of a fixture, had anyone witnessed a tied Super Over!

After Quinton de Kock's whirlwind century, it was Jimmy Neesham's exploits at the end (52 off 25) which brought Otago back in the match. The match was a tie after Sohail Tanvir almost delivered a perfect last over.

In the Super Over, Otago gave Lions a target of 14. de Kock knocked off 10 in the first 2 balls. But Neesham, the hero with the bat, and almost the villain with the ball, ended on the winning side quite inexplicably as Lions imploded, only managing to tie the score at the end of the Super Over.

Otago won only because they had hit more boundaries in the match. It was that kind of a day.

#9 Best match (ODI) - India vs Australia, Mohali

James Faulkner hit 30 runs off an over by Ishant Sharma, and made sure the Indian bowler goes down in history as one of the most trolled cricketers in Indian history.

India's frailties at death were exposed to the full as they failed to defend 303, and yet another potentially match-winning knock by MS Dhoni (139 off 121) went down the drain as Faulkner hit 64 off 29.

#10 Best Costume Design - England

There was tough competition for this award from some franchises in the opening edition of Caribbean Premier League, but England took the honours in the end.

After all, it's not every day that a team dons a jersey which is a throwback to the early 2000s version of other nations. The images of Henry Olonga and Flower brothers came to mind when England came out in all-red.

#11 Best screenplay - Sachin Tendulkar\'s retirement series

Oh, the drama!

For 2 weeks and then some, a nation was fed the biggest soap opera in recent memory when its greatest icon retired. There were chat shows, tributes, garlands, more tributes, painting exhibitions, collectable memorabilia, some more tributes and then an emotional farewell speech that would guarantee teary eyes on reruns years down the line.

And in between, some cricket was played too.

#12 Best cricketer in a negative role (critic) - Stuart Broad

The summary of the story is, that Broad refused to walk, and Aussies gave him hell a few months later.

He was the One-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, the harbinger of all that is shameful to the gentlemen's sport and the Target No. 1 for Australian fans when England toured Down Under for return Ashes.

There have been hardly any tours with more deliberately planned out attack on a single cricketer in recent memory.

#13 Best cricketer in a negative role (popular) - Sreesanth

The infamous towel-bearer, Sreesanth was the villain in this oh-so-surprising IPL scam which hit the biggest T20 league in the world last year.

From Slapgate, it was a big jump for Sreesanth to a world of bigger misconducts and the Kerala pacer ended up getting a life ban from BCCI for his alleged spot-fixing activities.

#14 Debutant of the year - Ashton Agar

It was the most ideal start of a career in 2013. Ashton Agar, on his debut, hit 98, batting at No.11.

The stat-keepers and cricketing brains expecting normal things to happen on a cricket field were left stunned. It was an unbelievable knock, especially considering that the score was 117/9 when Agar came in.

When he was the last man out, Australia had made 280, and the world had found a new hero.

Whatever happens to Agar on the cricket field now, this innings will remain in the history books forever.

#15 Best Makeup and Hairstyling - Mitchell Johnson

Shikhar Dhawan may had made the twirling moustache a rage in a part of the world, but by the force of sheer destruction in his path, Mitch wins this for his 'tache.

After all, there were comparisons with Merv Hughes for god's sake!