Mmubai: List of nominations for the International Cricket Council awards announced by the world governing body in Mumbai on Tuesday:
MS Dhoni led the honours list for the upcoming 2013 ICC Awards. The India captain has been nominated for the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for The Cricketer of The Year along with the ICC ODI Cricketer of The Year award.
Dhoni has also been named the winner of the People’s Choice Award, done through online voting. The accolades don't stop there: Dhoni is also the captain and wicketkeeper of ICC's nominal ODI Team of The Year, and the wicketkeeper of the ICC Test Team of The Year, led by England'a Alastair Cook who has led his team to major Test wins in India in December and during the Ashes this summer.
On winning the People’s Choice award, Dhoni said: “This is one of the awards that has given me tremendous satisfaction, since it comes from the key stakeholders of the game - the fans. Recognition from the people who support and encourage us day in and day out, only inspires me to put in that much more, and go the extra mile for them. I would like to thank all those people who have voted in my favour.”
It's been a period of wildly fluctuating fortunes for Dhoni. He had the disappointments of losing the home Test series to Englad and an ODI series to Pakistan. India had also failed to qualify for the 2012 World Twenty20 knockouts. Dhoni had to witness the near disintegration of his IPL franchise during the spot-fixing and betting scandal. He has put all of that behind him to lead the Indian team astutely to key wins, including the ICC Champions Trophy in England and the twin wins in Tests and ODIs against Australia.
ICC's Test team of the year (in batting order):
ICC's one-day team of the year (in batting order):
Cricketer of the year: Hashim Amla (RSA) James Anderson (ENG) Michael Clarke (AUS) Alastair Cook (ENG) Mahendra Singh Dhoni (IND) Kumar Sangakkara (SRI)
Test cricketer of the year: Hashim Amla (RSA) James Anderson (ENG) Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) Michael Clarke (AUS) Cheteshwar Pujara (IND) Dale Steyn (RSA)
One-day cricketer of the year: Saeed Ajmal (PAK) Shikhar Dhawan (IND) Mahendra Singh Dhoni (IND) Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK) Ravindra Jadeja (IND) Kumar Sangakkara (SRI)
Women's one-day cricketer of the year: Suzie Bates (NZL) Charlotte Edwards (ENG) Meg Lanning (AUS) Dane van Niekerk (RSA) Anya Shrubsole (ENG) Stafanie Taylor (WIS)
Umpire of the year: Aleem Dar (PAK) Steve Davis (AUS) Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) Marais Erasmus (RSA) Ian Gould (ENG) Tony Hill (NZL) Richard Illingworth (ENG) Richard Kettleborough (ENG) Nigel Llong (ENG) Bruce Oxenford (AUS) Paul Reiffel (AUS) Rodney Tucker (AUS)
Spirit of cricket award: Mahela Jayawardene (SRI) - for not waiting for umpire's decision after edging a catch to the wicket-keeper when he was batting on 91 against New Zealand in a Test match in Galle in November 2012.
Farhad Reza (BAN): for confirming he had touched the boundary ropes and signalled a six after catching Pakistan opener Nasir Jamshed during the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in 2012.
People's choice award: Winner: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (IND) Other nominees: Alastair Cook (ENG)) Michael Clarke (AUS) Virat Kohli (IND) AB de Villiers (RSA)
Emerging cricketer of the year: Trent Boult (NZL) Cheteshwar Pujara (IND) Joe Root (ENG) Mitchell Starc (AUS)
Associate and Affiliate cricketer of the year: Kevin O'Brien (IRL) Kyle Coetzer (SCO) Ed Joyce (IRL) Nawroz Mangal (AFG)
Twenty20 international performance of the year:
Women's Twenty20 cricketer of the year: Suzie Bates (NZL) Shanel Daley (WIS) Deandra Dottin (WIS) Meg Lanning (AUS) Sarah Taylor (ENG) Stafanie Taylor (WIS)
Selection Panel: Anil Kumble (Chairman), Waqar Younis, Alec Stewart, Graeme Pollock, Catherine Campbell.