COLOMBO – Seven Asian players including India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sri Lanka's wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara were selected in the International Cricket Council's One-Day Team of the Year Friday. Dhoni, who was included in the team for a fifth year in succession, was named captain. India's Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir, Sri Lankan fast bowler Lasith Malinga, Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal and all-rounder Shahid Afridi were also named in the team. England captain Alastair Cook and paceman Steven Finn, Australian skipper Michael Clarke and South African fast bowler Morne Morkel completed the line-up. Australian Shane Watson is named as the 12th man. Pakistan will, meanwhile, not boycott the ICC awards despite registering a protest over the omission of Ajmal from the shortlist of candidates. India opts for ‘lucky shirt' India's cricketers have been ordered to wear the same jersey design that won them the World Cup last year for next week's World Twenty20 in a bid to bring them good luck. Nike, the Indian team's clothing sponsor, had earlier this month unveiled a new Twenty20 design that displayed the national colors prominently and even paraded top stars in the new outfit at a media launch. But India's cricket chiefs have asked the players to wear the same blue shirts in which they won the 50-over World Cup in order to bring good luck to the team, the Times of India reported Friday. “It's our decision to ask the players to wear the jersey which they had used during the 2011 World Cup,” Indian cricket board official Ratnakar Shetty told the newspaper. India won the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, but failed to make the semifinals of the next two editions in 2009 and 2010. The new T20 design had been welcomed by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and senior batsman Virender Sehwag when it was launched. Future of Chargers may be decided today The future of the IPL's troubled Deccan Chargers team is likely to be decided by Saturday's meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The cash-strapped team, which failed to pay its players this year, was put up for sale but the lone bid was rejected by the franchise and its creditors Thursday as the terms were not considered suitable. Media reports said the bidder was Hyderabad-based finance firm PVP Venture Capitalists. The BCCI can now either invite fresh bids to buy the franchise, allow the team to be run for one more year by its creditors before a new sale process, or scrap the team and reduce next year's IPL to an eight-team league. The BCCI last year axed Kochi Tuskers for failing to make its annual payment after just one year in the league, reducing the number of teams from 10 to nine in 2012. — Agencies
