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Mahendra Singh Dhoni wins ODI Player of the Year 2009

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India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has won the ODI Player of the Year award for the second year in a row at the LG ICC Awards in Johannesburg.

Dhoni beat off tough competition from team-mates Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag as well as West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul to take the prestigious award.

During the voting period, Dhoni played 24 ODIs and scored 967 runs at an average of 60.43 and at a rate of 86.63 runs per 100 balls faced. In that time he hit nine fifties making sure he led his team from the front.

Also in that time, wicketkeeper Dhoni played a hand in 26 dismissals (18 catches and eight stumpings) and led his country to victory in 17 of the 24 matches in which he played. He is currently ranked number one in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen, comfortably ahead of the next best.

Dhoni also features in both the Test and ODI Teams of the Year as both wicketkeeper and captain of both sides, as selected by the expert five-man panel.

The panel was chaired by West Indies legend Clive Lloyd and included former India captain Anil Kumble, former England wicketkeeper Bob Taylor, former Pakistan opener Mudassar Nazar and former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.

For all the individual awards (with the exceptions of the Women's Cricketer of the Year and the Umpire of the Year), a long-list compiled by the selection panel was forwarded to the 25-person Voting Academy made up of former players, respected members of the media, an elite umpire and an elite match referee. They voted on a three, two, one basis (with three being the highest value) and the winners emerged.

Based on the period between 13 August 2008 and 24 August 2009, the LG ICC Awards 2009 - presented in association with FICA - take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

That period includes such high-profile events as the ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England, the ICC Women's World Cup 2009 in Australia and the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in South Africa, as well as several bilateral Test and ODI series.

The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its sixth year and this year is being held in Johannesburg to coincide with the ICC Champions Trophy 2009. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007) and Dubai (2008).