In the latest addition to Indian nominees for the ICC Decade Awards, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been included among the shortlisted contenders for the ICC Spirit of Cricket of the Decade Award. The act of sportsmanship that earned him this distinction was his recalling of Ian Bell during the second Test of the four-match Test series played in 2011. He has already received the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for the year 2011.
The Incident
On the last ball before before Tea on Day 3 of the Test match, Ian Bell hit a shot behind square on the off side. Praveen Kumar, India's best bowler in that series, dived to stop the ball close to the boundary line. While the ball remained inside the boundary, Kumar reacted with great despondancy, as if his efforts have failed. He got up and without any hurry, threw the ball back to the batsman's end where opener Abhinav Mukund collected the throw without any excitement and removed the bails.
At this moment, Bell was way out of the crease, almost at the other end, and assuming that it was a boundary, kept walking towards the pavillion for the tea break. There was a very very feeble appeal from the Indian side. However, the replays showed that Kumar had actually made a clean save and hence, the ball was in play when Mukund removed the bails.
The third umpire gave Bell, who was batting well past a hundred, out. The entire crowed booed the Indians off the field as the team went for tea. Most commentators, including Ravi Shastri and Michael Atherton, believed Bell was at fault and thought there was nothing wrong in what happened.
But the English captain Andrew Strauss went to the Indian dressing room during the break. When the Indian team came out after tea, they were again vociferously booed. But then, much to everyone's shock, Bell came out again. The English team showed their appreciation for their opponents by clapping for them when they came out.
Dhoni was given the Spirit of Cricket Award for that year by ICC for this very act. The decision of the Indian team was supported by Sourav Ganguly who was commentating on the series. Now, he has the chance to win another laurel based on his captaincy career.
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