02 October,2009 07:56 AM IST | | Amol Karhadkar
Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have stolen the limelight at last night's ICC Awards. However, the star himself, along with most of his teammates, gave the Oscars of cricket a miss as he was boarded a flight back home.
While Dhoni was being announced as the ODI Cricketer of the Year as well as the captain of the World Test and ODI XIs, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chose to ignore the importance of the award by making a representational attendance at the glittering award ceremony in Johannesburg.
After the Men in Blue bowed out of the Champions Trophy on Wednesday night, the BCCI hastily arranged the team's return to India.
This meant that only four members from India's squad Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra along with Yuvraj Singh, who had stayed over specifically for the function after being ruled out due to an injury, attended the annual awards function. This meant of the four Indians nominated, only Gambhir and Yuvraj attended the ceremony.
Virender Sehwag, the fourth Indian nomination, opted to play the Irani Cup in Nagpur instead of accepting ICC's all-expense-paid trip to Johannesburg, it was learnt.
While the invitees were entering Sandton Sun for the award ceremony, the Indian players were preparing to check out from the same hotel. An ICC spokesperson said: "They are not prisoners that you can tie them."
