Dhoni named captain of World T20 Team of Tournament

Dubai, April 7 (IANS) The International Cricket Council (ICC) Monday announced the men’s Team of the Tournament for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, with India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its captain.

The team includes four players from India, two each from South Africa and the West Indies, and one each from Australia, the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.

Chosen by a select group of experts, the team was aimed at being suited for Bangladeshi conditions, on the basis of performances at the just-concluded World T20 tournament. Statistics were used but were not the sole basis for selections.

Selection panel chairman and member of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, David Boon, said: “It was a very difficult task for the panel to pick a team of 11 from the exciting players who featured in this tournament.

“As the selection criteria for the Team of the Tournament are the performances of players in the conditions during the ICC World Twenty20 2014, some of the best players in world cricket had to be left out of the team.

“Bowlers in particular performed strongly throughout this tournament, and the side we have selected includes three of the most impressive bowlers in Dale Steyn, Samuel Badree and Lasith Malinga.

“The team also contains six specialist batsmen, including Stephan Myburgh from the Netherlands as an opening batsman, as well as three all-rounders, including Dhoni as a wicket-keeper batsman.”

The panel faced a difficult choice for a number of positions, and players who were considered but who did not ultimately make the team included India’s Amit Mishra, Pakistan’s Ahmed Shehzad, South Africa duo of AB de Villiers and Imran Tahir, Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews and Rangana Herath, and West Indies’ Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine.

Other members of the panel included Marais Erasmus of the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, ex-England captain Nasser Hussain, former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop and Utpal Shuvro, one of Bangladesh’s senior-most cricket correspondents.

Full squad:

Rohit Sharma (India), Stephan Myburgh (Netherlands), Virat Kohli (India), J.P. Duminy (South Africa), Glenn Maxwell (Australia), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India – captain), Darren Sammy (West Indies), Ravichandran Ashwin (India), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Samuel Badree (West Indies) and Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka); 12th Player: Krishmar Santokie (West Indies).