Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Sunday named captain of ICC’s ODI and T20I teams of the decade while his former deputy and current India captain Virat Kohli was chosen as the skipper of the Test team.
Kohli’s stature as a modern day great was highlighted by his presence in all three teams. He is in fact the only one to have that distinction.
Indian players dominated the limited-over teams by having three and four players in the ODI and T20I sides, respectively, while England have the maximum number of players — four — in the Test side.
The 39-year-old Dhoni, who retired from international cricket earlier this year, was one of the three Indians in the ODI team of the decade, the others being Rohit Sharma and skipper Kohli.
Dhoni has three other compatriots in the T20I team — Rohit, Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah.
The teams of the decades were announced by the ICC ahead of the Awards of the Decade ceremony, to be held in virtual mode on Monday.
The ICC Awards of the Decade that recognise the best players in cricket over the past 10 years invited fans to vote for the first time. More than 1.5 million fans from across the globe participated, casting 5.3 million votes.
The nominees for each of the categories have been determined by the Awards Nominations Committee according to on-field performances and overall achievements for at least five years during the period, the ICC said.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni File picture
The top awards, including ICC male cricketer as well as female cricketer of the decade, men’s Test, ODI and T20I cricketers of the decade, women’s ODI and T20I cricketers of the decade, will also be announced on Monday.
Kohli is also in the running for four awards — ICC male cricketer of the decade, men’s Test cricketer, men’s ODI cricketer and men’s T20I cricketer of the decade.
In the Test team of the decade, senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is the other Indian while the four Englishmen are Alastair Cook, Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad and James Anderson. Australia are represented by Steve Smith and David Warner.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara and South African fast bowler Dale Steyn complete the Test team of the decade.
India have the maximum number of players in the ODI team of the decade with Australia (Warner and Mitchell Starc) and South Africa (AB de Villiers and Imran Tahir) having two each.
Among women, Harmanpreet Kaur and Poonam Yadav made it to the T20I team of the decade while Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami were picked for the ODI team.
ICC teams of the decade
Test Team
Alastair Cook, David Warner, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Kumar Sangakkara (wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dale Steyn, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
ODI Team
Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Shakib-al Hasan, MS Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Ben Stokes, Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Imran Tahir, Lasith Malinga
T20I Team
Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, MS Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Kieron Pollard, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga