London: Still smarting from their humiliating Test series defeat to England, Indian cricketers had something to cheer about as Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir were on Friday 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 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.
The shortlists of the Annual Awards, to be held in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, was announced after vote by an independent 25-person academy in each category.
The academy includes a host of former players, respected members of the media as well as representatives of the Emirates Elite Panels of ICC Umpires and ICC Match Referees.
The long-lists were made by a five-man ICC selection panel chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd. The panel also includes former captains Zaheer Abbas of Pakistan and England's Mike Gatting and New Zealand's Danny Morrison and South Africa's Paul Adams.
Based on the period between August 11, 2010 and August 3, 2011, the LG ICC Awards 2011 take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.
Shortlists of nominees for LG ICC Awards:
Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year: Hashim Amla, Alastair Cook, Sachin Tendulkar, Jonathan Trott.
ICC Test Player of the Year: James Anderson, Alastair Cook, Jacques Kallis, Jonathan Trott.
ICC ODI Player of the Year: Hashim Amla, Gautam Gambhir, Kumar Sangakkara, Shane Watson.
ICC Emerging Player of the Year: Azhar Ali, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Wahab Riaz.
ICC Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year: Ryan ten Doeschate, Hamid Hassan, Kevin O'Brien, Paul Stirling.
ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year: Tim Bresnan, JP Duminy, Tim Southee, Shane Watson.
ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year: Charlotte Edwards, Lydia Greenway, Shelley Nitschke, Stafanie Taylor.
David Shepherd Trophy for ICC Umpire of the Year: Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Ian Gould, Simon Taufel.
ICC Spirit of Cricket: MS Dhoni, Jacques Kallis.
LG People's Choice Award: Hashim Amla, MS Dhoni, Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara, Jonathan Trott.
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