Dhoni named captain as ICC Champions Trophy 2013 finalists dominate the side
The International Cricket Council (ICC) today announced the Team of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, which included seven players from the England and India sides that featured in the final at Edgbaston on Sunday.
The team includes five India players – Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – two Englishmen, namely Jonathan Trott and James Anderson, as well as Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq, Kumar Sangakkara from Sri Lanka, South Africa’s Ryan McLaren and New Zealand’s Mitchell McClenaghan. Joe Root of England was picked as the 12th man.
Dhoni was named as the captain after he led his side to victory in the final, thus becoming the first captain in the history of the game to lift all three major ICC trophies – ICC World Twenty20 2007, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013. While Dhoni got little opportunity to show his exploits with the bat, he marshaled his troops outstandingly and he was sharp and agile behind the stumps as he accounted for nine batsmen behind the wickets (five catches and four stumpings).
For Dhawan, McLaren, Kumar and McClenaghan, it was a significant achievement as it was the first time they had appeared in a global tournament, which featured the world’s best cricketers.
The Team of the Tournament was selected by a five-person selection panel that comprised Geoff Allardice (ICC General Manager – Cricket, and Chairman Event Technical Committee), Javagal Srinath (former India fast bowler and ICC Emirates Elite Panel match referee), Aleem Dar (ICC Emirates Elite Panel umpire), Scyld Berry (Wisden Editor from 2008-2011 and Sunday Telegraph correspondent) and Stephen Brenkley (correspondent of The Independent and Independent On Sunday).
The chairman of the panel, Mr Allardice, said: “It was an extremely difficult task for the panel to pick a team of 11 players from the quality of players who featured in this tournament.
“As the selection criteria was the performance in the ICC Champions Trophy 2013, some of the best players had to be left out, though they would walk very easily into any World XI.
“The side is a good mixture of specialists and all-rounders, and includes six in-form batsmen, including Dhoni as a wicketkeeper-batsman, a spinner in Jadeja, McLaren as an all-rounder and the three most impressive fast bowlers of the tournament in Kumar, Anderson and McClenaghan.”
Team of the Tournament (in batting order):
1- Shikhar Dhawan (India) -363 runs
2- Jonathan Trott (England)-229 runs
3- Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)-222 runs
4- Virat Kohli (India)-176 runs
5- Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan)-173 runs
6- Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper/captain) (India)- 27 runs, five catches and four stumpings
7- Ravindra Jadeja (India)-12 wickets & 80 runs
8- Ryan McLaren (South Africa)-83 runs & eight wickets
9- Bhuvneshwar Kumar (India)- six wickets
10- James Anderson (England)-11 wickets
11- Mitchell McClenaghan (New Zealand)-11 wickets
12- Joe Root (England)-173 runs
