Indian captain voted crowd favourite, is also part of ICC Test, ODI teams; Kohli misses cut
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was in for a triple treat on Tuesday as he won the ICC People’s Choice Award and was also a part of both ICC Test and one day international teams of the year. He would captain the ODI squad.\\
Dhoni has now become only the third cricketer to win this award after Sachin Tendulkar, who was the first-ever recipient in 2010, and Sri lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, who won it in 2011 and 2012. Other nominees for this year’s award were Australia’s Michael Clarke, England’s Alastair Cook, India’s Virat Kohli, and South Africa’s AB de Villiers. BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel received the award from Howard lee, Director Home Entertainment, lG Electronics India Pvt ltd, on behalf of Dhoni, who is currently in South Africa with the India cricket team.
The award, which was introduced in 2010 in Bengaluru, was voted upon by close to 188,000 cricket fans around the world. The voting opened on November 2 and closed at midnight on November 23, an ICC statement said.
Meanwhile, what would be a big surprise, Virat Kohli, who has been in prolific form off-late was ignored from both teams. ICC’s Chief Executive David Richardson said while Kohli was extremely unlucky to have missed out but he should be making it next year. “Kohli is one of the players who should consider himself unlucky not to get selected, especially in the ODI team of the year. In these awards it’s more a case of who gets left out rather than who gets in. There’s tremendous competition for places,” said Richardson after announcing the ICC’s Test and ODI teams of 2013 at a media conference here.
“It will be very surprising if Kohli does not make the team next year,” he added.
The period under consideration for selection for the awards was August 7, 2012 to August 25, 2013.
India’s World Cup winning skipper Dhoni, who made the list for the sixth consecutive year, was expectedly named the captain. Also included in this squad was left handed India opener Shikhar Dhawan and all rounder Ravindra Jadeja, both of whom have played stellar roles in their team having a golden run in ODI format, including the ICC Champions Trophy that India won last June in England.
Dhoni has also been picked in the ICC Test Team of the year, along with teammates Cheteshwar Pujara and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as 12th man. England captain Alastair Cook was named the captain of the Test side.
The Ranchi-born wicketkeeper-batsman is also in the running for winning the ICC Cricketer of the year along with five other players who were short listed on Tuesday. He is also in with a chance to win the ICC ODI Cricketer of the year with compatriots Dhawan and Jadeja. Ashwin and Pujara are in the running for the ICC Test Cricketer of the year with four others.
It is the fourth year in a row for South Africa’s Hashim Amla, while England captain Alastair Cook, who is named as the Test captain, appears in the side for the third straight year. The teams were chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by the ICC’s Cricket Committee chairman and former India captain Anil Kumble.
South Africa’s pace spearhead Dale Steyn was named in Test side for sixth year in a row. Richardson also announced the short-lists for the ICC Awards 2013, which will be broadcast as a TV show on December 14, in a departure from the annual dinner function, because of the tight playing schedule of various players.
“I’d like to congratulate all those selected for the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the year. Those selected can be justifiably proud of their achievements and are thoroughly deserving of the recognition they receive,” said Richardson.
“It is always tough to decide on the Test and ODI teams of the year, with so many worthy candidates to consider based on the players’ performances between August 7, 2012 and August 25, 2013,” said Kumble, chairman of the awards selection panel.
“The selection panel had a lengthy debate on all the top performers during the performance period and a number of combinations were considered,” he said. The selectors did utilise a vast amount of statistics from the period under observation, but we also took into account other factors like the opposition, pitch conditions, match situation and the like. But when you have only 12 places to fill from a big group of world-class players, there will always be a few who will miss out.
“In the panel’s expert opinion, it has selected the best Test and ODI Teams based on performances over the past 12 months,” he added.
Kumble was joined on the panel by former Pakistan fast bowler and captain Waqar Younis, former England captain and wicketkeeper Alec Stewart, former South Africa batsman Graeme Pollock, and former New Zealand women’s player Catherine Campbell.