India batsman Gautam Gambhir has won the ICC Test Player of the Year at the LG ICC awards ceremony in Johannesburg.

Gambhir beat off short-list competition from Mitchell Johnson of Australia, Sri Lanka's Thilan Samaraweera and England captain Andrew Strauss to claim the first ICC award of his career.

During the 12-month voting period, Gambhir put in some remarkable performances with the bat, making 1,269 runs with an impressive average of 84.60 in the eight Test matches he played. He scored five centuries and four half-centuries during the period.

Upon collecting the award from ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Sunil Gavaskar the 27-year-old Gambhir said: "It's been a dream run for me. I never thought it could be like this but life has changed for me and I am very happy.

"As a unit we have played very well and I am just glad to contribute to the overall success of the team."

The Test Player of the Year Award was one of eight individual prizes given at this year's LG ICC Awards. Gambhir also featured on the ICC Test Team of the Year as picked by the ICC selection panel.

The panel was chaired by West Indies legend Clive Lloyd and included former India captain Anil Kumble, former England wicketkeeper Bob Taylor, former Pakistan opener Mudassar Nazar and former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.

Based on the period between 13 August 2008 and 24 August 2009, the LG ICC Awards 2009 - presented in association with FICA - take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

That period includes such high-profile events as the ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England, the ICC Women's World Cup 2009 in Australia and the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in South Africa, as well as several bilateral Test and ODI series.

The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its sixth year and this year it is being held in Johannesburg to coincide with the ICC Champions Trophy 2009. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007) and Dubai (2008).