New Delhi: Indian wicketkeeper and explosive middle order batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni is without doubt the most remarkable young talent to have come out of the country over the last couple of years.
Eye catching and fearless Dhoni has taken the world by storm and impressed everyone except the International Cricket Council (ICC) of course who still don't think he is among the top 17 One-Day players in the world.
ICC awards are cricket's Oscars and every year players who have outshone their counterparts are honoured at a glittering ceremony.
Though every year there is debate about the choices, this year when the ICC named its 17 nominations for the One-Day Player of the Year, there was collective gasp that greeted one glaring omission.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not on the list but the ICC's Chief Executive didn't seem to make much of it.
"I think you’ll have to take that up wit the selectors. The selectors make these nominations," said ICC chief Malcolm Speed.
But Speed woke up the next morning to some difficult questions.
After all Dhoni's batting average between August 1, 2005 and August 8, 2006 was a staggering 55.71 with 1170 runs in 36 matches that included match-winning knocks like the unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka at Jaipur.
And on pure cricketing logic Dhoni's exclusion was just impossible to explain but Speed found one.
"I wasn’t in the selection meeting, so I can’t tell you what was considered. But if you look at it logically, there are two other wicketkeepers being nominated for One-Day Player of the Year who’ve has outstanding years, as did Mr Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I said yesterday and I say again, that he’s a young man and his time will come," Speed added.
Even as the debate rages on Dhoni has chosen to stay silent on the issue and his admirers believe he should simply carry on doing what he does best and the awards will follow.
"It (awards) doesn’t matter. He’s playing for the country and I think that’s the biggest recognition. If he gets an award - who doesn’t want one - if he doesn’t, that’s a bigger challenge. He should go out there and prove everybody wrong and score more runs," says Kapil Dev.
In his short international career Dhoni has become one of cricket's most remarkable success stories.
And it is unlikely that not being recognised by the game's top body will undermine that status in the least.
(With bureau inputs)
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