Mumbai, Sep 2 (Inditop.com) India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sri Lanka’s explosive batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan have both been nominated in three different categories of the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Awards 2009.
Both Dhoni and Dilshan have been nominated for the Cricketer and Test player of the year awards. Dhoni’s name also features in the One-day International player of the year award while Dilshan is in the Twenty20 players’ list.
The awards would be given during a glittering ceremony in Johannesburg, Oct 1. Eighteen players have been nominated in two categories.
The lists were announced at a function hosted by former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri and opening batsman Virender Sehwag – who has also been nominated for the ODI Player of the Year award – and ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat.
This year’s ICC Awards includes eight individual prizes and also features the selection of the Test and ODI Teams of the Year and the award to the side that has adhered most to the Spirit of Cricket.
“The LG ICC Awards are an opportunity for the ICC and FICA to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable performances of the world’s top players,” said Lorgat.
“It is also a chance for followers of our great sport to reflect on some of the great cricketing feats they have witnessed over the past year. This will be the sixth time the awards have been handed out and yet again there are so many great performances to recall. Selecting the winners will no doubt test our selectors and voting academy,” he said.
The long-lists of nominations were made by a five-man ICC selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain and current chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee Clive Lloyd. The panel also includes former players such as India’s Anil Kumble, Mudassar Nazar of Pakistan, Bob Taylor of England and New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming.
The individual player awards will be selected by an academy of 25 highly credentialled cricket personalities from around the world. The academy includes a host of former players and respected members of the media, representatives of the umpires and ICC Match Referees.
Dilshan is yet to win an ICC Award but he has a good chance this year as he is named among the nominees for the ICC Cricketer of the Year, Test Player of the Year and the Twenty20 International Performance of the Year.
Dhoni is a previous winner at the LG ICC Awards having been named as the ODI Player of the Year in 2008. He was also named in the 2008 ODI Team of the Year. This year he has been nominated in the Cricketer of the Year, Test Player of the Year and ODI Player of the Year categories.
The Emerging Player of the Year nominees include Australia’s new finds Philip Hughes, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle as well as the New Zealand duo of Martin Guptill and Jesse Ryder. Indian leg-spinner Amit Mishra, Kemar Roach of the West Indies and England seamer Graham Onions are also there in the list.
