WINNERS ALL: Kapil (top) with the Cricketer of the Century Award; Gavaskar, Chandrasekhar and G. Viswanath at Wembley

It was a sight to behold: all the biggest names in Indian cricket walking along a red carpet with people lined up on either side at the Wembley Conference Centre. There were the old spinners-Bishan Singh Bedi and S. Venkataraghavan-followed by the two pillars of the Bombay school of batsmanship, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sunil Gavaskar. Then he arrived. Knighted but more regal than any king, his playing days over but the power still in evidence, a man with a shining pate and a rolling gait. The effect on the crowd was instinctive. Every man, woman and child stepped back in deference, not daring to interrupt his walk. Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards had arrived.

They called it a celebration of one hundred years of heroes-and they filled a hall full of them. From Mushtaq Ali, whose gait at 88 years would do a Royal Guardsman proud, from the halting figure of leg-spinner Bhagwat Chandrasekhar to the familiar quick step of Gavaskar, the confident tread of his great contemporary Kapil Dev and the orderly file of the current Indian cricket team. Crowds didn't break down the door at the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century awards ceremony, but Indian cricket's big nightout did what it had to do: recognise the richness and heritage of the country's most beloved sport.

THE LINE UP: Mushtaq Ali with Sir Viv and Clive Lloyd (top); Tendulkar (middle) was at ease with the audience; and (below, from left) Pataudi, Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, Tendulkar, Kapil, Bedi, Chandrasekhar, Kumble and Viswanath

The player who finally left with the main award of the evening-the Indian Cricketer of the Century, a choice based both on reason and emotion-was to the mind of many judges Mr Indian Cricket himself. "Indian cricket is about spirit and enthusiasm and passion-and Kapil Dev is the man who more than anyone else portrayed that," Richards said. "It had to be Kapil, for all-round ability, more than anyone else," echoed former Indian wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer.

As hard as many in cricket tried, the award was difficult to ignore purely because it was the first of its kind, instituted by Wisden, considered the Bible of the game.

The awards were decided by a jury of 35, including famous names in Indian cricket-Mushtaq Ali, Vengsarkar, Bedi, Ajit Wadekar, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and Rahul Dravid-and four from overseas: Richie Benaud, Imran Khan, Clive Lloyd and Nasser Hussain. There was a smattering of media members in the jury, which also included the late Madhavrao Scindia who cast his vote before his death. For the main award, every member of the jury had to list his top five cricketers (the members of jury did not nominate themselves) and then pick No. 1; the top one picked up two points and the other four a point each.

There were rumblings when the award for the best bowling performance was given to Chandrasekhar for his 6-38 at the Oval in 1971, ignoring Anil Kumble's 10-74 vs Pakistan. Similarly, the Team of the Century Award went not to the World Cup-winning team of 1983 but to Gavaskar's 1985 team that won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia. It sparked off another round of whispers that this was to ensure that Gavaskar didn't leave empty-handed.

SPORTS: WISDEN CRICKET AWARDS

KAPIL DEV Full Circle REDEEMED: Kapil hugged by wife Romi after receiving the award When Kapil Dev stepped up to slap palms with Viv Richards and receive the trophy for the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century, it was both recognition and redemption. It has been less than two years since he resigned as Indian coach in the wake of the match-fixing controversy. A teary appearance on television, a very public distancing from all cricket and occasional jibes at the Indian team-all the bitterness looked to have vanished when he stepped up to receive the award. When asked whether the award was a vindication, he lashed out: "If this is vindication, then it is the sweetest thing I have ever known." The margin between the top three was excruciatingly narrow-Kapil pipping Tendulkar to top place by, it is believed, a single vote with Gavaskar coming in a mere three points behind. Kapil's career will forever be studied in two halves: first the outstanding allrounder and athlete who played for India from 1978-79 to 1994. Then, the former player-turned-coach trapped in the match-fixing scandal that rocked world cricket. The Wisden award is the endorsement of Kapil Mark I. The best tribute to Kapil came from his English rival Ian Botham: "Kapsy kept me on my toes. I'd look in the papers and see, 'Oh, Kapil's taken a five-fer, I'd better get six. Kapil's got a hundred I'd better get 150'." Richards launched into a passionate defence of the Indian allrounder: "I never believed it of this individual-the way he played his cricket with competitiveness and enthusiasm." Kapil himself said of his experience: "When some people try to destroy you but the cricket fraternity sees you differently, you get your faith back." At the exclusive Long Room dinner, Kapil was emotional and expansive, filling guests' glasses with champagne. He had hugged both his rivals on the podium, singling Gavaskar out for his powers of concentration, confidence and his strong sense of Indianness. Of Tendulkar, he had a story: "Just before he played for India, I bowled to him in the nets and he hit me for two straight sixes ... I thought then, 'Old man ... your career is finished'." Life for Kapil Dev, artist and allrounder extraordinaire, has come full circle.

It didn't make a difference to the audience of 1,200-odd people who had paid £50-150 (Rs 3,700-12,500) for the privilege. They cheered and whistled repeatedly when names and faces came up on a giant screen-it began with Kapil Dev running back to take Richards' catch looking over his shoulder on that other day at Lord's and continued to a crescendo with the arrival of India captain Sourav Ganguly on the main stage to present Chandrasekhar with his award.

In the presence of such a bloodline, the current heir to the lineage, Tendulkar, was given the People's Choice Award, arrived at through a public poll. Looming over the event was the presence of Mohammed Azharuddin. Or rather his absence. Originally invited to the event, expenses paid, there were reservations-old players and current ones felt they would not be comfortable sharing a stage with the man banned for his involvement with bookies. The invitation was withdrawn and, say insiders, it infuriated Azharuddin who, ironically, is in England to attend a wedding.

Hussain gave away the least contentious award of all-the Batting Performance of the Century-to V.V.S. Laxman for his 281 vs Australia. Then, the father of all stylists and the first Indian to score a century overseas, Mushtaq Ali stepped forward to receive his award. At the end, there were some memorable moments. Desmond Haynes, talking about the West Indies' defeat in the 1983 World Cup final: "It was the worst day of my life. When we went back to the hotel, I could only see Indians." But the quote of the evening came from Shane Warne, when he said: "Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Tendulkar ... I'm getting a nightmare already."