MS Dhoni gets 'Spirit of Cricket' award

Mahendra Singh Dhoni winning the Spirit of Cricket trophy was the lone highlight for India at the ICC Annual Awards where English cricketers walked away with the top honours in a glittering ceremony in London.

Dhoni was chosen for the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for his fine gesture of recalling Ian Bell after the England batsman was run out under controversial circumstances during the second Test at Trent Bridge in July.

Dhoni turned out to be the lone Indian to win an ICC award this year.

Despite being wrapped up in an intense and difficult Test series in England, Dhoni showed the right spirit in agreeing to allow Bell to continue batting when he was run out.

On what was the last ball before tea on the third day, Bell hit the ball towards the boundary.

He mistakenly thought it had gone for four, left his crease and headed towards the pavilion assuming the session was over and the ball dead.

The ball, which had not reached the rope and therefore was still in play, was returned to the middle, the bails removed and Bell was correctly given run out.

Upon reflection during the tea interval and following a request from the England team, Dhoni withdrew the appeal and recalled Bell thus turning boos into cheers from the appreciative Nottingham crowd.

Commenting on Dhoni's gesture, ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said, "While the initial appeal and umpire decision were correct to the letter of the law, the decision by Mahendra and his team to withdraw the appeal shows great maturity.

"To see players and officials uphold the Great Spirit of cricket, which has underpinned the game for more than a century, is very special."

Dhoni's gesture was voted as the winner ahead of that of South Africa's Jacques Kallis, who twice demonstrated such spirit during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 by walking once he had clarified with opposition fielders directly that they had caught the ball cleanly rather than waiting for the umpires to decide.