Dhoni in ICC Test, ODI teams; Kohli misses out on ODI spot

Mumbai: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has found a place in both ICC Test team of the year as well as the ODI side of the year but surprisingly Virat Kohli, who has been a consistent run-getter in the 50-over format in the last one year, didn't figure in the ODI team, announced here today.
ICC's Chief Executive David Richardson said while Kohli was extremely unlucky to have missed out on in the LG ICC ODI Team of the year, led by compatriot Dhoni, but he should be making it next year.
"Kohli is one of the players who should consider himself unlucky not to get selected, especially in the ODI team of the year. In these awards it's more a case of who gets left out rather than who gets in. There's tremendous competition for places," said Richardson after announcing the ICC's Test and ODI teams of 2013 at a media conference here.
"It will be very surprising if Kohli does not make the team next year," he added.
In the period under consideration for selection, August 7, 2012 to August 25, 2013, the Delhi batsman, who is often referred to as the bold new face of Indian cricket, had amassed 689 runs, including two tons, at an average of 40.52.
India's World Cup winning skipper Dhoni, who made the list for the sixth consecutive year, was expectedly named the captain.
Also included in this squad was left handed India opener Shikhar Dhawan and all rounder Ravindra Jadeja, both of whom have played stellar roles in their team having a golden run in ODI format, including the ICC Champions Trophy that India won last June in England.
Dhoni has also been picked in the ICC Test Team of the year, along with teammates Cheteshwar Pujara and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as 12th man.
England captain Alastair Cook was named the captain of the Test side.
The Ranchi-born wicketkeeper-batsman is also in the running for winning the ICC Cricketer of the year along with five other players who were short listed today. He is also in with a chance to win the ICC ODI Cricketer of the year with compatriots Dhawan and Jadeja.
Ashwin and Pujara are in the running for the ICC Test Cricketer of the year with four others.
It is the fourth year in a row for South Africa's Hashim Amla, while England captain Alastair Cook, who is named as the Test captain, appears in the side for the third straight year.
The teams were chosen by a specially appointed selection panel chaired by the ICC's Cricket Committee chairman and former India captain Anil Kumble.
South Africa's pace spearhead Dale Steyn was named in Test side for sixth year in a row.
Richardson also announced the short-lists for the ICC Awards 2013, which will be broadcast as a TV show on December 14, in a departure from the annual dinner function, because of the tight playing schedule of various players.
"I'd like to congratulate all those selected for the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the year. Those selected can be justifiably proud of their achievements and are thoroughly deserving of the recognition they receive," said Richardson.
"It is always tough to decide on the Test and ODI teams of the year, with so many worthy candidates to consider based on the players' performances between August 7, 2012 and August 25, 2013," said Kumble, chairman of the awards selection panel.
"The selection panel had a lengthy debate on all the top performers during the performance period and a number of combinations were considered," he said.
"The selectors did utilise a vast amount of statistics from the period under observation, but we also took into account other factors like the opposition, pitch conditions, match situation and the like. But when you have only 12 places to fill from a big group of world-class players, there will always be a few who will miss out.
"In the panel's expert opinion, it has selected the best Test and ODI Teams based on performances over the past 12 months," he added.
Kumble was joined on the panel by former Pakistan fast bowler and captain Waqar Younis, former England captain and wicketkeeper Alec Stewart, former South Africa batsman Graeme Pollock, and former New Zealand women's player Catherine Campbell.
Statistics were available as a guide but were not necessarily the overwhelming factor in the choices made.
The awards period under consideration includes the ICC World Twenty20 Sri Lanka 2012, the ICC Women's World Cup 2013 held in India, the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 held in England and Wales, various rounds of the ICC Intercontinental Cup, numerous Pepsi ICC World Cricket League and Championship fixtures, and several bilateral Test, ODI and T20I series.
The ICC Awards is now in its 10th year and this year will be broadcast as a TV show. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004 and 2011), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007 and 2009), Dubai (2008), Bengaluru (2010) and Colombo (2012).
The ICC Test Team of the Year is (in batting order): Alastair Cook (Eng, captain), Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind), Hashim Amla (SA), Michael Clarke (Aus), Michael Hussey (Aus), AB de Villiers (SA), MS Dhoni (Ind- Wicketkeeper), Graeme Swann (Eng), Dale Steyn (SA), James Anderson (Eng), Vernon Philander (SA). 12th Man: Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind).
ICC ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL), Shikhar Dhawan (Ind), Hashim Amla (SA), Kumar Sangakkara (SL), AB de Villiers (SA), MS Dhoni (Ind, captain and wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja (Ind), Saeed Ajmal (Pak), Mitchell Starc (Aus), James Anderson (Eng), Lasith Malinga (SL). 12th Man: Mitchell McClenaghan (NZ).
Short-lists of nominees for individual awards --
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla (SA), James Anderson (Eng), Michael Clarke (Aus), Alastair Cook (Eng), MS Dhoni (Ind) and Kumar Sangakkara (SL).
ICC Test Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla (SA), James Anderson (Eng), Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind), Michael Clarke (Aus), Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind) and Dale Steyn (SA).
ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year: Saeed Ajmal (Pak), Shikhar Dhawan (Ind), MS Dhoni (Ind), Misbah ul-Haq (Pak), Ravindra Jadeja (Ind) and Kumar Sangakkara (SL).
ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year: Suzie Bates (NZ), Charlotte Edwards (Eng), Meg Lanning (Aus), Dane van Niekerk (SA), Anya Shrubsole (Eng) and Stafanie Taylor (WI).
ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year: Trent Boult (NZ), Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind), Joe Root (Eng) and Mitchell Starc (Aus).
ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year: Kevin O'Brien (Ire), Kyle Coetzer (Scot), Ed Joyce (Ire) and Nawroz Mangal (Afg).
ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year: Umar Gul (Pak) -- 2.2-0-6-5 v South Africa, Centurion, March 3, 2013; Martin Guptill (NZ) -- 101no (69b, 9x4, 6x6) v South Africa, East London, December 23, 2012; Brendon McCullum (NZ) -- 123 (53b, 11x4, 7x6) v Bangladesh, Pallekele, October 1, 2012; Ajanth Mendis (SL) -- 4-2-8-6 v Zimbabwe, Hambantota, September 18, 2012.
ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year: Suzie Bates (NZ), Shanel Daley (WI), Deandra Dottin (WI), Meg Lanning (Aus), Sarah Taylor (Eng) and Stafanie Taylor (WI).
David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year: Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Tony Hill, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Paul Reiffel and Rodney Tucker.
ICC Spirit of Cricket: Mahela Jayawardena (SL) and Farhad Reza (Bang).

87 rebels have laid down arms this year in Odisha: Naveen

By Nalini Sahu

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 3: At least seven security personnel and 21 Left Wing Extremists (LWEs) have been killed and 87 surrendered before police in 2013 till November end, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said in the state Assembly on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a question from BJD legislator Anant Das, the Mr Patnaik said four BSF personnel were killed in an ambush in Koraput district, while 13 Maoists were gunned down in Malkangiri district.

“Apart from Malkangiri, four rebels were killed in Rayagada district and one each were killed in Koraput, Balangir, Baragarh and Gajapati districts,” the CM said.

Of the 87 LWEs who surrendered during the year, 65 were from Malkangiri district, followed by nine in Koraput district and five in Rayagada district.

 Two others surrendered in Nabarangpur, while one each surrendered in Kandhamal, Gajapati, Sundergarh, Keonjhar, Sambalpur and Dhenkanal, he added.

“Only Nayagarh, Jajpur and Dhenkanal remained free from Maoist violence and influence this year.  Gajapati, Ganjam, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Deogarh and Sundargarh  are not considered as free from the LWE menace in view of movement and activities of the ultras,” the CM stated.

BJP fails to open its account at its “Hindutva laboratory” Kandhamal

By Ratikant Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 3: The Bharatiya Janata Party which on many occasions showcased Kandhamal district in Odisha as a Hindutva model, miserably failed in the urban local body polls results of which were announced on Tuesday.

In two major Notified Area Councils (NACs), including the district headquarters Phulbani, the party even could not open its accounts.

 Of the 13 wards in Phulbani, the ruling BJD got 10 while the Congress and others bagged 2 each. Similarly, of the wards in G. Udayagiri NAC, the BJD won 10 while the Congress and independents got two and one each, respectively.

Kandhamal has always remained high on the agenda of the BJP. Riding on the sympathy wave after the murder of Hindu seer and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in August 2008 by a group of Maoists, - the BJP tried to consolidate its base in the district.

Its candidate Ashok Sahu got a massive 1,47, 020 votes against the BJD’s Rudra Madhab Ray who polled 3,15,314 votes to win the seat.

BJP state president Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo, who was appointed as the party state chief a few months ago, had begun his public relations rally from the district. Most of the senior central BJP leaders trip to the district during their visit to the state.

The poor performance of the BJP in Kandhamal comes as major setback for the party before the 2014 Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. The party, already battling to keep its flock together, finds no immediate solution in sight to plug the loopholes and staring at further disastrous results sans any damage control moves.

Often dubbed as BJP’s Hindutva laboratory, Kandhamal has turned out to be its waterloo in the state politics.

High voter turnout may help BJP, AAP

New Delhi, Dec. 3: Voter turnout is expected to affect the electoral fate of the three key players — the Congress, the BJP and the newly-formed Aam Aadmi Party — in Wednesday’s elections in Delhi.
Political strategists believe that the low voter turnout has always given an edge to the Congress in the Delhi Assembly elections. The low voter turnout is largely attributed to the less participation of middle and upper middle class voters. It was only in the last municipal elections that the low voter turnout worked to the advantage of the BJP.
The 1993 Assembly elections saw the maximum voter turnout of 65.75 per cent in Delhi. The elections were swept by the BJP, led by veteran leader Madan Lal Khurana. While the BJP government was fighting the unprecedented hike in onion prices, its chances to retain Delhi were completely damaged with just 49 per cent of the voters turning up in the 1998 elections. To battle the onion crisis just before the elections, the BJP even replaced then chief minister Saheb Singh Verma with their senior party leader Sushma Swaraj. But the Delhiites gave a clear mandate to the Congress-led by Sheila Dikshit.
In 2003 Assembly elections, the voter turnout further slumped to 47 per cent. This time, the Congress could manage to win the elections on the strength of its Muslim and dalit votebanks. The heavy turnout in the slum clusters also helped the party to retain its hold over the national capital.
Even as the electorate strength had increased from 58.5 lakh in 1993 to 1.07 crore in 2008, the middle class did not realise its collective power in a place like Delhi where they form the maximum chunk of voters. “The Dikshit government’s poll sops to regularise a large number of unauthorised colonies helped the party to retain power in Delhi again in 2008,” BJP supporter Jagdish Mamgain said.
What is quite surprising is the fact that as many as 18 constituencies have witnessed 10 per cent fall in voter turnout between 1993 and 2003 Assembly elections. In all the four Assembly elections, the highest difference has been recorded in the Rajouri Garden constituency where 66.25 per cent voters exercised their franchise in 1993 and it was only 37.95 per cent in the 2004 Assembly byelection. The second highest difference was recorded in Baljeet Nagar where voter turnout of 61.64 per cent fell down to 35.72 per cent in the last Assembly poll.
This time, the Congress, the BJP and the AAP are focusing more on the 25 Assembly seats which were decided by a margin of less than 5,000 votes in the last Assembly elections. Of the 25 seats, as many as 10 were decided by a margin of even less than 1,000 votes.
The BJP and the AAP have been making desperate appeals to the Delhiites to turn up in large numbers on the voting day. “Both the parties know, they will gain only if the middle class turns up in large numbers,” a local Congress leader said. BJP leader Sushma Swaraj even appealed to the party well-wishers across the country to contact their known people in Delhi to vote for her party. AAP founder Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the Delhiites, affected by inflation and corruption, would turn up in large numbers to put an end to the 15-year-old “misrule” of the Dikshit regime.
Even BJP chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan echoed similar sentiments. “People are fed up with the Congress. They just want change,” he told this newspaper. But combative Ms Dikshit termed her rivals’ claims as “misleading” and a sign of their “nervousness.”
“Even if there is a huge turnout, we are bound to win,” the chief minister, who is seeking a fourth term, declared.
Even the Election Commission had launched a high-end campaign to make people aware about their voting rights. The commission had been making repeated appeals to the electorate to come out in large numbers on the voting day. The commission will also keep a tab on about 14 lakh voters who could not be traced at their respective addresses. To check the bogus voting, about 80 per cent people have already been provided with their photo-voter slips. Four other states — Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan — which went to polls recently witnessed heavy voter turnouts. Now, it is the turn of 1.19 crore Delhiites to demonstrate their voting rights.