Four Indians in ICC ODI Team of Year, Dhoni named captain

London 12 Sep 2011 (PTI): World champions India dominated the ICC ODI Team of the Year announced on Monday, with four of them figuring in the side, including Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was named captain.

Other Indians named in the team are opener Virender Sehwag, middle-order batsman Yuvraj Singh, who won the the Man-of-the-Series award in the cricket World Cup, and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan.

Apart from being named captain of the team, Dhoni will keep wicket for the fourth year in a row.

India have the maximum number of players in the world team that does not include Sachin Tendulkar.

Sri Lanka, who finished runners-up in the World Cup, have two players in the first eleven as well as the 12th man. South Africa are being represented by two players while Australia, England and Pakistan have one player each.

Sehwag partners Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan at the top of order while the latter's teammate Kumar Sangakkara comes at the crucial number three spot.

South Africa's AB de Villiers and Australian Shane Watson were named at number four and five while Yuvraj would bat at number six, a slot ahead of Dhoni.

Pakistan's Umar Gul and South African Dale Steyn will share the pace duties with Zaheer while Englishman Graeme Swann is the lone spinner in the world team.

The ICC on Monday announced the ODI Team of the Year at a special function ahead of the LG ICC Awards ceremony. The team was chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by West Indian batting legend and former captain Clive Lloyd.

Chairman of the ICC Awards selection panel, Lloyd said India's dominance in the ODI team reflected their success in the World Cup.

"The ODI team of the year reflects the success of India with four players selected - Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Zaheer Khan. Yuvraj was, of course, the player of the tournament and MS Dhoni, the man of the match in the final, whilst fellow finalists Sri Lanka has three players in the side," Lloyd said.

"This has been an outstanding year for 50-over cricket. I think everyone saw in the ICC Cricket World Cup how exciting this format can be. The ICC Cricket World Cup was rightly applauded as one of the greatest in history and no one who was in Mumbai will forget that remarkable evening."

Former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas, former England captain Mike Gatting, former New Zealand bowler Danny Morrison and former South African bowler Paul Adams were the other members of the selection panel.

ICC ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virender Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper/captain), Graeme Swann, Umar Gul, Dale Steyn, Zaheer Khan.

12th Man: Lasith Malinga.