Dubai: The International Cricket Council on Monday announced the women's ODI and T20I teams of the year with New Zealand's Suzie Bates named as captain of the 50-over side while Harmanpreet Kaur of India appointed captain of the 20-over side. The two sides have been selected by the same voting academy, which comprised members of the media and broadcasters who also voted for the annual women's individual awards to be announced later today, and took into consideration player performances in the 2018 calendar year.
Kaur has been rewarded for heading her side to the semi-final of the ICC Women's World T20 2018 in the Caribbean in November. In that tournament, Kaur scored 183 runs at a strike-rate of 160.5, while in the 25 matches in the calendar year, she accumulated 663 runs at a strike-rate of 126.2. Kaur is ranked third in the MRF Tyres ICC Women's Player Rankings for T20I Batters.
Reacting to the news, Bates said, “Thank you very much to everyone who voted for the ICC team of the year. To be named captain is just an absolute honour. Obviously, I have been playing for a long time and stepped down from captaincy, but to be named captain of a World XI is pretty special and something I will always remember.”
The 11-member women's ODI side comprises players from seven countries, including two each from England (Tammy Beaumont and Sophie Ecclestone), India (Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav), New Zealand (Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine) and South Africa (Dane van Niekerk and Marizanne Kapp), and one player each from Australia (Alyssa Healy), Pakistan (Sana Mir) and Deandra Dottin (the Windies).
T20 2018 champions Australia (Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner and Megan Schutt), three players from semi-finalists India (Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Poonam Yadav), two players from New Zealand (Suzie Bates and Leigh Kasperek) and one player each from Bangladesh (Rumana Ahmed) and England (Natalie Sciver).
Rumana is the first Bangladesh player to have been selected in the ICC squad. Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav are the two India girls who feature in both the ODI and T20I squads. Other players to find places in both the squads are Australia's Healy and Bates of New Zealand.