Chanderpaul bags ICC Player of the Year award

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul claimed the International Cricket Council (ICC) Player of the Year award on Wednesday.

The Guyanese left-hander claimed the most prestigious cricket prize for 2008 by landing the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy at the annual awards function held in Dubai.

Chanderpaul edged out Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene and South African strike bowler Dale Steyn for the top accolade.

"I'm honoured to be given this prestigious award tonight and I'm very thankful to God for blessing me with the talent that I have," he said.

"I would like to thank my family, in particular my wife Amy, for their constant support over the years."

The Guyanese left-hander scored 819 runs at an average of 91.00 for just eight tests, hitting three hundreds and six fifties, during the voting period from Aug. 9 2007 to Aug. 12.

Steyn grabbed the Test Player of the Year award after taking 86 wickets in 14 tests at home, in India and England.

Indian wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the top-ranked one-day batsman who also led the side to the World Twenty20 win last year, was the ODI Player of the Year.