London, Aug 26: Still smarting from their humiliating Test series defeat to England, Indian cricketers had something to cheer about as Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir were today named in the final shortlists for ICC Cricketer of the Year and ODI Player of the Year awards.
Tendulkar, who had a below par performance in the four-match Test series with just 273 runs at an average of 34.12, was named along with South African Hashim Amla and two Englishman Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott for the Sir Garfield Sobers Award for the ICC Cricketer of the Year.
Tendulkar was ICC cricketer of the year last year.
Gambhir, who struggled with injuries in the Test series, found a place in the shortlist for ICC ODI player of the Year along with Amla, Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara and Australian Shane Watson for the awards to be presented here on September 12.
Test's world number one England fittingly had three players from the team for the ICC Test Player of the Year with James Anderson, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott competing against Jacques Kallis for the award.
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to recall Ian Bell after the England batsman was ruled run out by the umpire during the second Test at Trent Bridge earned him a place in the shortlist for ICC Spirit of Cricket award.
Dhoni will have competition from South African Kallis who was named for walking twice during the 2011 Cricket World Cup after clarifying with the opposition fielder if they had caught the ball cleanly.
Dhoni, who was ordinary as a skipper and wicketkeeper in the England Test series, was also shortlisted for LG People's Choice Award along with Amla, West Indian Chris Gayle, Sangakkara and Trott. PTI
