Cook, Dhoni named captains of ICC Test, ODI teams

MUMBAI: England’s Alastair Cook and India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni were named the captains of the Test and One-Day International teams of the year by the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.
Dhoni was chosen ODI captain for the fourth time in five years. He was also the test captain in 2009 and 2010.
The 12-member Test team has four players from South Africa, including pace bowler Dale Steyn, chosen for a sixth consecutive year. England and India both have three players, while Australia has two.
The ODI side has players from seven nations, including three Sri Lankans and three Indians.
The teams were chosen by a panel chaired by former India legspinner Anil Kumble after reviewing player performance over 12 months to August 2013. Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younes, former England captain Alec Stewart, former South Africa batsman Graeme Pollock and former New Zealand women’s player Catherine Campbell were the other members of the panel.
“The selectors did utilize 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,” Kumble said in a statement.
“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.”
Dhoni, who led India to victory in this year’s Champions Trophy in England, was named the winner of the people’s choice award.
“This is one of the awards that has given me tremendous satisfaction, since it comes from the key stakeholders of the game — the fans,” Dhoni said in a statement. “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.”
Dhoni was also nominated for cricketer of the year and one-day cricketer of the year, to be announced on Dec. 14. Also up for cricketer of the year were Cook, South Africa batsman Hashim Amla, England seam bowler James Anderson, Australia captain Michael Clarke and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, last year’s world and test cricketer of the year.