selected

An integer index of an item to select:

<select id="ddl" ></select>

<script type="text/javascript">

    $(function () {
        $("#ddl").shieldDropDown({
            dataSource: {
			    data: countries
		    },
            selected: 1,
		    textTemplate: "{name}",
		    valueTemplate: "{code}"
       });
    });

</script>