Indian cricket star Tendulkar awarded AM

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Sorry, this video has expired Video: Top Order for Indian cricket great (7pm TV News ACT)

Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar is to receive an Order of Australia (AM) for his contribution to the sport.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard made the announcement during a visit to a Delhi cricket clinic.

"I'm also very pleased we're going to confer on Sachin Tendulkar membership of the Order of Australia, an AM," she told reporters.

"This is a very special honour, very rarely awarded to someone who is not an Australian citizen or an Australian national.

"He is away playing cricket - surprise, surprise - but the award will be conferred on him by Minister [Simon] Crean when [he] visits India.

"So a very special honour and a very special recognition of such a great batsman."

Ms Gillard is in India on a three-day visit, during which she will meet prime minister Manmohan Singh and other senior ministers to trade and cultural ties and the likely opening up of uranium sales.

In the sporting arena, however, she could not be persuaded to pick up a cricket bat.

"I wasn't tempted to showcase my skills. Number one, because I don't really have cricketing skills. So that would be a problem," she said.

"Number two, whilst I didn't agree with prime minister [John] Howard's policies in many respects, I watched and learned from his prime ministership and a key lesson is never to pick up a bat in India in front of our friends from the media."

There was no immediate comment from Tendulkar, who is in South Africa representing the Mumbai Indians team in the Twenty20 Champions League.

Tendulkar has scored a world record Test (15,553) and one-day (18,426) runs and has also compiled an unprecedented 100 international centuries.

West Indies batting great Brian Lara was honoured with the membership of the Order of Australia in 2009.

Former attorney-general Soli Sorabjee is the only other Indian to have received the award.

Tendulkar's popularity in Australia was cemented when legendary cricketer Don Bradman said he was reminded of his own batting after watching the Indian play.

Improving image

Part of Ms Gillard's mission to Delhi is to improve Australia's image in India after a spate of attacks on Indian students.

ABC South Asia correspondent Michael Edwards has spoken on PM about how much of this might play into the decision to give an award to a famous cricketer.

I don't want to be cynical here and allege anything, now I'm sure that the most pure cricket-fan motives are at play with giving Sachin Tendulkar this award. But it is probably going to work well for Australia when it comes to a public relations coup. There's no doubt Australia's reputation in India took a real battering because of the attacks on India's students, and Julia Gillard's visit here over the next couple of days is designed to repair that damage. So if the Indians take Sachin Tendulkar's Order of Australia in the right spirit, it could really help the reputation and the image of Australians in India. South Asia correspondent Michael Edwards

Topics: awards-and-prizes, federal-government, cricket, australia, india

First posted