The award, comprising a cash prize of Rs one lakh and citation, has been instituted by the Trust to honour those who proved their excellence in sports at the national level.
Gavaskar's contributions and achievements as a cricketer, commentator and administrator had been considered for the recognition, the Trust said in a release today.
Gavaskar is the first sports personality to win the award.
A panel, comprising former BCCI secretary S K Nair, Trust Chairman T Raveendran Thampi, S N Ravichandran Nair, N Harikumar and T Satheesh Kumar, selected the winner.