World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh, who survived a rare germ cell cancer, will lead the list of awardees at Sports Illustrated India's third annual Sportsperson of the Year awards, to be held in Gurgaon on May 4.
This year's event, to honour performances through 2011, was originally slated for February, but moved to May so that Yuvraj, who returned from the United States where he underwent treatment for cancer last month, could accept the evening's top award, Sportsperson of the Year.
Yuvraj was adjudged the Player of the Tournament at last year's cricket World Cup.
Besides Yuvraj, the list also includes former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia (Editor's Choice award for Excellence), Sports Minister Ajay Maken (Administrator of the Year), the Rajasthan Ranji Trophy-winning team, led by Hrishishikesh Kanitkar (Team of the Year).
The list also includes young chess prodigy Karthikeyan Murali (Sportskid of the Year), London Olympics-headed boxer Vikas Krishan Yadav (Athlete of the Year, he was SI India's Young Player of the Year for 2010) and MAK Pataudi (posthumously) for Lifetime Achievement.
This is the third year of the India awards, which are inspired by the world's most prestigious sports awards, the Sportsman of the Year, established by Sports Illustrated in 1954.
Britain's Sir Roger Bannister, who ran the first official sub-four minute mile, was the first Sportsman of the Year, but it has largely been dominated by Americans, including Billie Jean King (Sportswoman of the Year 1972), Muhammad Ali (Sportsman of the Year 1974), Jack Nicklaus (1978), Michael Jordan (1991), Tiger Woods (1996, 2000), Lance Armstrong (2002) and Michael Phelps (2008).
