Indian sports bring home the Oscars

Since the entire world seems to be under an Oscar spell, it makes one wonder who would win if there were Oscars for Indian sports. Well, here's a little something we call the Indian Sports Oscars. Totally original. *Ahem*Anyhoo... Welcome! Some might say 2013 was atumultuous year for Indian sport. They are absolutely right.2013 saw performances in every genre. There was action. There was drama. There was tragedy. There was adventure. And there was horror.We also saw some newbies shine bright in the world of badminton, athletics and cricket, while some old-timers struggled to find their foothold but put up good fights to keep their dignity. All in all, it was a year in sports that will not be forgotten easily (for good reason), leaving behind a bitter-sweet aftertaste. So let's get on with it, shall we?

#1 Honorary Award - Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin's glorious career is very obviously what makes him deserve this award. But what makes him even more worthy of receiving this award was the speech after his last game at the Wankhede, which brought the little girl inside all his fans to tears. It's no secret that Indians are suckers for melodrama but this was Sachin Tendulkar! And what a career he has had. At the end of his last game, Sachin had over 34,000 international runs with a century of centuries and 164 half centuries.

Although another great Indian legend, Rahul Dravid, retired from all forms of cricket in 2013 too, and he was a close second on the list, overshadowed by the Master Blaster. Oh, the irony! Sorry Dravid.

#2 Best Player in a Supporting Role (Female) - Deepika Kumari

India's ace archer, the 19-year-old Deepika Kumari, led the women's contingent at the World Cup to stun the reining world champions Korea by a four-point margin in the World Cup Stage 4 final in an historic feat at Poland. It was an out-and-out women's show as the recurve team of Deepika, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Rimil Buriuly clinched two World Cup golds. It was the Indian women team's second World Cup gold medal of the year after a similar achievement at Stage 3 in Medellin, Colombia where they had beaten China in the gold medal clash. Deepika won four siler medals in the World Cup and also clinched a gold at the Asian Championship, deeming her worthy of this award.

#3 Best Player in a Supporting Role (Male) - Leander Paes

For Leander Paes, age truly is nothing but a number. In 2013, the 40-year-young Paes became the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title when he won the US Open doubles trophy. So far, Paes has won 14 Grand Slams, the most by any Indian. But Paes is far from being done. He says he would like to play in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Although Paes has many a time found media attention for all the wrong reasons, his Grand Slam win was an absolute delight. Take a bow young man.

#4 Special Achievement award - Devendra Jhajharia

The 32-year-old para athlete created history by becoming the first differently-abled Indian to win gold at the F46 javelin throw event at the IPC Athletics World Championships in July 2013 in Lyon, France. An Olympic medallist, Devendra lost an arm at the age of eight, but that never stopped him from crafting his own destiny and making his dreams a reality. Devendra is true hero for his country and a source of immense inspiration.

#5 Best performance by an ensemble cast (Male) - the Indian wrestling team

The Indian wrestling squad brought great pride to the country at the World Wrestling Championships held at Budapest. Amit Kumar, the youngest Indian wrestler to ever compete at the Olympics, bagged a silver in the 55 kg division after going down narrowly in the final. Freestyle grappler Bajrang got the bronze medal in the 60 kg freestyle grappling. Sandeep Yadav fetched a bronze in the 66 kg Greco Roman style category; the 25-year-old surprised many by his performance. This young Indian squad scripted the best show ever for India in the World Wrestling Championships (this is not entertainment, it's the real deal!).

#6 Best performance by an ensemble cast (Female) - the junior women\'s hockey team

Indian girls created history by winning country’s first ever bronze medal in the junior women hockey World Cup. An 18-year-old Rani scored the only goal in regulation time and netted 2 penalties to beat England 3-2 in the penalties of the bronze medal play-off. Credit is also due to goalkeeper Bigan Soy, who stepped on the turf for the first time in the tournament in the shootout. India had surprised top teams in the competition and they finished their campaign in superb manner.

#7 Best Debut performance - Shikhar Dhawan

The 28-year-old receives the award for the fastest century by any batsmen on debut. He played a belligerent innings against the Aussies and scored 100 in just 85 balls, ending his innings at 187 off 174 balls. He continued that tremendous form into ODIs, scoring five centuries, the most by any batsman in 2013, and amassed 1,162 runs at an average of 50.52 and a strike rate of 97.89.

#8 Best performance in a leading role (Female) - PV Sindhu

In 2013, PV Sindhu created history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a medal at the BWF World Championships. Playing in her maiden World Championships, the 18-year-old Sindhu, seeded 10th, scored an upset win over local favourite Shixian Wang to enter the semifinals. The World No. 12 beat the seventh-seeded Chinese 21-18, 21-17 in 55 minutes at the Tianhe Indoor Stadium. The only other Indian to win medals in the past were Prakash Padukone, who won the men's singles bronze in 1983 at Copenhagen, and Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, who won a bronze in the women's doubles event at London in 2011.

#9 Best performance in a leading role (Male) - Virat Kohli

The new poster boy of Indian cricket, the 25-year-old Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman to reach 5,000 runs, equalling West Indian legend Sir Viv Richards. In 2013, Kohli scored 1,268 runs with four centuries and seven half-centuries in only 34 ODIs, and claimed the No. 1 spot in the ICC rankings. He also scored 616 runs in eight Tests, with two centuries and three fifties. All set to fill in the big shoes of the Master Blaster, Kohli is well on his way to become a legend. He is also on the verge of surpassing Sachin Tendulkar in endorsements, after he signed a Rs. 10-crore deal with Adidas. Kohli is estimated to have earned around Rs 40 crore in 2013. Kohli is certainly the undisputed winner for this award.