Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has been named Man of the Tournament at the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
Tendulkar scored 669 runs at an average of 66.90
But it provided little consolation for his side being overwhelmed by Australia in the final.
Tendulkar scored 673 runs at an average of 61.20 during the tournament, a new record aggregate, with one century and six fifties.
"It's an honour to be named the best player of the World Cup,
but I would have been happier if India had won the title," he said.
"It was just one of those off days when nothing went right for
us. We had a bad start and the pressure kept building."
Tendulkar is now also the heaviest scoring batsman in World Cup history, having passed Javed Miandad's record.
"He thoroughly deserves this accolade," said Dr Ali Bacher, Executive Director of CWC 2003.
"We wanted this to be the best World Cup ever, and Sachin's brilliant batting has helped the tournament captivate many millions of people around the cricketing world."
Legendary West Indies all rounder Sir Garfield Sobers will present Tendulkar with a gold trophy worth 500,000 Rand at the end of Sunday's World Cup final against Australia.