Mumbai, Sept. 7: International Cricket Council CEO Malcolm Speed said here on Thursday that Indian wicketkeeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s omission from the ICC’s ODI Player of the Year award was decided by the selection panel and they would be best-placed to answer any questions.
"The selection panel has made the nominations. Why Dhoni was not included can be best answered by the panelists. Dhoni does not qualify any more for the Emerging Player of the Year award as he has crossed the number of matches (Tests and ODIs) specified," said Speed.
Dhoni, who has scored 1,760 runs from 36 ODIs at an average of 55.71 in the last one year has a career strike rate of over 100 per innings.
"The list of nominations contained two other wicketkeeper batsman — Sri Lanka’s Kumara Sangakkara and Australia’s Adam Gilchrist. Sangakkara has scored 1,700 runs last year while Adam Gilchrist has a strike rate of 110 to his credit," he added.
The ICC also dedicated the forthcoming Champions Trophy Tournament in India to the "Spirit of Cricket" and has already approached a host of top players and officials to support the concept.
Players like skipper Rahul Dravid, Virendra Sehwag, Sangakkara, West Indian Brain Lara, Australia’s Brett Lee, New Zealand’s Shane Bond, Shaun Pollock of South Africa, Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar and coach Dav What more have been roped in to promote this scheme.
Speed also called on players and officials to pledge themselves to use the 10-team limited overs extravaganza from October 7-November 5 as a "springboard" in the quest to uphold the spirit of the game.
"It is just to emphasise that all the players are aware of the spirit of cricket when the sport, as well as many others, are under great scrutiny. It will be great if we get through the Champions Trophy without any one being charged (with breach of the Code of Conduct)," Speed said.
Speed said that closed-circuit TV cameras will be installed as a part of security measures in all four centres. "Security is top priority for the ICC and the BCCI."
