The hype around them notwithstanding, none of the 'Men in Blue' could make it to the shortlist for ICC annual awards.
JOHANNESBURG: The hype around them notwithstanding, none of the 'Men in Blue' could make it to the shortlist for ICC annual awards, which has the lone Indian representation in Jhulan Goswami, nominated for the 'Women's Cricketer of the Year' category.
The long list for the ICC awards included Zaheer Khan and Anil Kumble in the 'Test Player of the Year' category, while Yuvraj Singh made it to the ODI list.
But when the 56-member ICC Academy pruned the list, the Team India trio fell by the wayside.
Jhulan's new ball partner Rumeli Dhar, who was also named in the initial list, also failed to make the cut in the shortlist.
Jhulan will have to stave off challenge from Lisa Sthalekar (Aus) and Claire Taylor (Eng) to win the coveted title.
Meanwhile, Australian captain Ricky Ponting may bag his second Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy as the Cricketer of the Year, which would be presented at a gala function here on September 10.
Giving Ponting a tough competition would be Pakistan's run-machine Mohammad Yousuf, who recently defected to the Indian Cricket League, maverick England batsman Kevin Pietersen and seasoned West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Ponting, who secured the top award last year along with the prize for being the top Test player, is the only player to make the short-list in four categories this year.
The Australian, who led his side to Champions Trophy and World Cup triumphs, is in the frame for Test Player of the Year, ODI Player of the Year and Captain of the Year as well as the Cricketer of the Year awards.
Yousuf is potentially in line to collect two prizes, having made the short-list for Cricketer of the Year and Test Player of the Year, while England's Kevin Pietersen has also been short-listed for those two awards.
The shortlist for the Emerging Player of the Year has four nominees - Australia fast-bowling discovery Shaun Tait, Bangladesh star Shakib Al Hasan, New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor and England's Ravi Bopara.
To qualify for that award a player has to be under the age of 26 and have played fewer than five Tests and/or 10 ODIs at the start of the voting period, which was August 9, 2006 for this edition.
The ICC Academy is made up of captains from the 10 ICC Full Members, the 10 Emirates Elite Panel ICC Umpires and eight Emirates Elite Panel ICC Match Referees, together with 28 legends and media.
In all, there are eight individual awards this year including a new one for the Associate ODI Player of the Year.
The short-list for that award includes two players from Kenya Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo, one from the Netherlands (Ryan ten Doeschate) and one from Canada (Ashish Bagai).
The nominations for five of the individual awards - Emerging Player of the Year, Captain of the Year, Test Player of the Year, ODI Player of the Year, Cricketer of the Year - were made by a five-man ICC selection panel led by former India captain Sunil Gavaskar.
That panel also included former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns, ex-South Africa batsman Gary Kirsten, Iqbal Qasim, the former Pakistan left-arm spinner, and ex-England captain Alec Stewart.
Gavaskar felt making the short-lists was an achievement in itself and said, "No matter who wins these trophies on 10 September, all of those who have made the short-lists should be immensely proud of their efforts.
"It means they are among the very best performed players over the 12 month period under consideration and given there were so many outstanding feats by a whole host of players in that time, that is no mean achievement."
Selection was based on the players' performances over the course of the 12-month judging period from August 9, 2006 to August 8, 2007.
Apart from the eight individual awards, there are three team awards as well. These are Test Team of the Year, ODI Team of the Year and the Spirit of Cricket Award.
The Umpire of the Year category includes three-time winner Simon Taufel, along with Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor.
Short-list:
Emerging Player of the Year: Ravi Bopara (Eng), Shakib Al Hasan (Ban), Shaun Tait (Aus), Ross Taylor (NZ)
ODI Player of the Year: Matthew Hayden (Aus), Jacques Kallis (SA), Glenn McGrath (Aus), Ricky Ponting (Aus)
Test Player of the Year: Muttiah Muralitharan (SL), Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Ricky Ponting (Aus), Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)
Cricketer of the Year: Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI), Kevin Pietersen (Eng), Ricky Ponting (Aus), Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)
Associate ODI Player of the Year are: Ashish Bagai (Can), Ryan ten Doeschate (Nth), Thomas Odoyo (Ken), Steve Tikolo (Ken)
Women's Cricketer of the Year: Jhulan Goswami (Ind), Lisa Sthalekar (Aus), Claire Taylor (Eng).
Umpire of the Year: Mark Benson, Steve Bucknor, Simon Taufel
Captain of the Year: Mahela Jayawardena (SL), Ricky Ponting (Aus).
Spirit of Cricket Award: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Sri Lanka.
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