ICC Announces ICC ODI Team of the Year; Names MS Dhoni as Captain

Mahendra Singh Dhoni MS Dhoni has been named captian of the ICC ODI Team
of the Year

That the recent results have had little bearing has been shown in the fact that there are four Indian cricketers and two Sri Lankan cricketers in the ICC ODI Team of the Year, announced as a prelude to the LG ICC Awards to be held later tonight. Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have come under fire on India’s tour of England but he continues to be a popular candidate as shown by the announcement of the Indian captain as the captain of the ICC ODI Team of the Year.


Like the ICC Test Team of the Year that was named when announcing the LG ICC Awards 2011 shortlisted nominees, the ICC today announced its ODI Team of the Year, as chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by West Indian batting legend and former captain Clive Lloyd. The announcement was made at a special function ahead of the LG ICC Awards ceremony which is being held this evening at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London. Presented in association with FICA, the LG ICC Awards recognise the best international players and officials of the past 12 months.

ICC ODI Team of the Year (in batting order):

Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL)

Virender Sehwag (Ind)

Kumar Sangakkara (SL)

AB de Villiers (SA)

Shane Watson (Aus)

Yuvraj Singh (Ind)

MS Dhoni (Ind, wicketkeeper/captain)

Graeme Swann (Eng)

Umar Gul (Pak)

Dale Steyn (SA)

Zaheer Khan (Ind)

12th Man – Lasith Malinga (SL)

Six countries are represented in the 12-man line-up and just one player – Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India – four years in a row. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 winning captain keeps wicket and leads the side and is joined by fellow ICC ODI Team of the Year 2009 members AB de Villiers of South Africa and Shane Watson of Australia. There are four Indians in the side, all of whom were involved in India’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 victory over Sri Lanka in Mumbai in April of the year. Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Lasith Malinga, who were all part of the side that lost out to Dhoni’s men in the final on 2 April 2011 at Wankhede Stadium, are selected for the team too.

Umar Gul finds himself as the lone Pakistan cricketer in the ICC ODI Team of the Year while Shane Watson is the only representation for Australian cricket on the prestigious list as decided by the panel. South Africa’s spearhead, Dale Steyn, and new South African ODI captain, AB de Villiers, make the cut on the team as well. New Zealand find no players on their list, even though the team as a whole managed to beat South Africa to make the semi finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, suggesting individual improvements may be the need of the hour. Incidentally apart from England spinner, Graeme Swann, England also find themselves with a single person representation.

Interestingly or rather incidentally Mahendra Singh is the only Indian cricketer currently out on the tour of England with Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan all injured and back home nursing injuries. Amongst the four Indian names, Sachin Tendulkar is an obvious miss on the list which some die hard fans may well question the wisdom of.