ICC awards announced: Asians steal the party

DUBAI: The ICC awards were announced on Wednesday here, which the Asian players made off with in majority.Sri Lanka's Ajantha Mendis pipped Ishant Sharma of India to win the ICC Emerging Player of the Year award. Yuvraj Singh of India won the ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year Award. Both Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were included in the 12-man ICC World ODI Team of the Year with Australian Ricky Ponting as captain. Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the ICC ODI Player of the Year 2008. The Sri Lankan team won the ICC Spirit of Cricket award for the second year in a row. Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands won the ICC Associate Player of the Year award. ICC Umpire of the year was awarded to Australia's Simon Taufel who won it for the fifth straight time.