Dubai: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and star batsman Virat Kohli were on Saturday nominated for the International Cricket Council's People's Choice Award, the winner of which will be declared on December 13 during the governing body's 10th annual awards.
"The quintet of players nominated for the award are Australia's Michael Clarke, England's Alastair Cook, India's duo of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, and South Africa's AB de Villiers," the ICC said in a statement. Both Kohli and Dhoni have been ICC award winners in the past.
While Kohli won the ICC ODI Player of the Year 2012, Dhoni had bagged the same trophy in the year 2008 and 2009.
Fans will have the opportunity to decide the winner by voting either via www.lgiccawards.com or via Twitter using the hashtag #lgiccawards.
Voting opens on Saturday and will close at midnight November 23 with the winner to be announced on December 13, along with all the other winners of the LG ICC Awards 2013. This year marks the 10th year of the LG ICC Awards, and will see a change in the format of the Awards.
The formal event will be replaced with a special TV show that will be broadcast towards the end of the year. The show is set to recap the last year in world cricket and will feature interviews with many nominees and winners.
The short list was nominated by an elite panel of cricket experts, which is headed by ICC Cricket Committee Chairman and former India captain Anil Kumble.
Other members of the panel are England's Alec Stewart, New Zealand's Catherine Campbell, Pakistan's Waqar Younis and South Africa's Graeme Pollock. The five players were selected by the panel using the criteria set out by LG and the ICC.
"This is the fourth year of the LG People's Choice Award and it continues to be hugely popular among fans across the globe," ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said. "This year we see a number of new names nominated for the title, all tremendous entertainers who play with style and skill. I'm sure all the fans will come out in force to vote for their favourite."
Details of the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the Year, as well as short-lists for this year's LG ICC Awards will be announced on November 11 at a press conference in Mumbai. Based on the period between August 7, 2012 and August 25, 2013, ICC Awards take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.
The voting academy for this year's LG ICC Awards is as follows:
Former cricketers - Brendon Julien (Aus), Shelley Nitschke (Aus Women), Bhabibul Bashar (Bang), John Emburey (Eng), Claire Taylor (Eng Women), Kiran More (Ind), Sudha Shah (Ind Women), Mark Richardson (NZ), Lesley Murdoch (NZ Women), Mudassar Nazar (Pak), Jonty Rhodes (SA), Kerri Lang (SA Women), Chaminda Vaas (SL), Daren Ganga (WI), Mpumelelo Mbangwa (Zim), Gavin Hamilton (Scot ? Assoc & Aff Rep) Media - Jesse Hogan (Aus), Atif Azam (Bang), Dean Wilson (Eng), Alison Mitchell (Women's Media Rep), Sanjeev Samyal (Ind), Mark Geenty (NZ), Saleem Khaliq (Pak), Firdose Moonda (SA), Callistus Davy (SL), Barry Wilkinson (WI), Michael Madyira (Zimbabwe), Liaquat Ali (Assoc & Aff Rep), Josina Luke (Women's Committee Rep)
Representative of Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees - Andy Pycroft
Representative of Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires - Steve Davis
Chairman of ICC Cricket Committee - Anil Kumble.
