Dhoni leads ODI team of the year

Four members of India's World Cup-winning squad have been named in the ICC's ODI team of the year. India's captain MS Dhoni was named captain became the only player to have made it for the fourth successive year. Yuvraj Singh, player of the tournament in the World Cup, Zaheer Khan, its leading wicket-taker, and Virender Sehwag are also in the team.

The ICC also picked three Sri Lankans in the XI, including the World Cup's highest run-scorer Tillakaratne Dilshan, former captain Kumar Sangakkara and fast bowler Lasith Malinga (12th man).

The others in the line-up were South Africa's new ODI captain AB de Villiers, fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Umar Gul, Australia's allrounder Shane Watson and England spinner Graeme Swann.

The notable absentees included South African opener Hashim Amla and Indian opener Gautam Gambhir, both of whom were among the four nominees for ICC's ODI player of the year.

"A lot of players were in contention and the cut off date was August 3. It was a tough selection but I am happy with this squad," Clive Lloyd, the head of the selection panel, said.

When Mark Nicholas, the MC for the event, expressed mild surprise at the team not being "jam-packed" by Indians considering they won the World Cup, Lloyd said the job was to find the right people to fit into various positions.

"There were a lot of people on the selection panel. Sachin Tendulkar is well and truly what you call a batting god. And it is very difficult to leave him out but when you look at the some of the players (picked ahead of him) they have done reasonably well. They had done better than him."

Lloyd also elaborated on why MS Dhoni was chosen as the captain. "He is a very studious guy, don't forget that. He doesn't have a lot to work with, he moves around his side a lot, and is a good thinker."

The team was selected based on performances between August 11, 2010 and August 3, 2011. The jury, headed by Clive Lloyd, also included South Africa's Paul Adams, England's Mike Gatting, New Zealand's Danny Morrison and Pakistan's Zaheer Abbas.

ODI team of the year: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virender Sehwag, Kumar Sangakkara, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Yuvraj Singh, Graeme Swann, Umar Gul, Dale Steyn, Zaheer Khan, 12th Man - Lasith Malinga