Dhoni named captain of ICC ODI team

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named captain of ICC's 'ODI Team of the Year' which also includes Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir.

This is for the fifth consecutive year in a row that Dhoni has been selected in ODI Team of the Year.

A specially appointed five-member selection panel headed by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd selected a 12-member team that includes three Indians, two Australians Michael Clarke and Shane Watson, Pakistanis Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal, Sri Lankans Kumar Sangakkara and Lasith Malinga, Englishmen Alastair Cook and Steven Finn. Morne Morkel is the only South African.

The ICC Chief Executive David Richardson announced the squad at a special function ahead of the LG ICC Awards ceremony which will be held on Saturday evening at the Waters Edge, Colombo. The LG ICC Awards recognise the best international players and officials of the past 12 months.

Apart from Lloyd, the other members of the panel were former Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu, former West Indies skipper Carl Hooper, Australian all-rounder Tom Moody and former England women's team captain Clare O'Connor.

ICC ODI Team of the Year:  Gautam Gambhir (Ind), Alastair Cook (Eng), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Virat Kohli (Ind), MS Dhoni (Ind,wicketkeeper/captain), Michael Clarke (Aus), Shahid Afridi (Pak), Morne Morkel (SA), Steven Finn (Eng), Lasith Malinga (SL), Saeed Ajmal (Pak); 12th Man – Shane Watson (Aus).

Photograph: Stringer/Reuters