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The International Cricket Council (ICC) has named India’s left-handed opener Smriti Mandhana, off-spin all-rounder Deepti Sharma, wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh, and right-arm fast-bowler Renuka Singh Thakur in the ICC Women’s T20I team of the Year for 2022, on Monday.
New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine has been named as the captain of the side while other players in the ICC Women’s T20I team of the year 2022 include Australia opener Beth Mooney, all-rounders Ashleigh Gardner and Tahlia McGrath, Pakistan’s off-spin all-rounder Nida Dar, left-arm spinners, England’s Sophie Ecclestone and Sri Lanka’s Inoka Ranaweera.
Smriti, the India vice-captain who is also nominated for ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year and ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year, had a terrific 2022 season with the bat, making 594 runs at an average of 33 and a strike-rate of 133.48. In her 21 innings during the year, she scored five half-centuries, including one in the final of the Women’s Asia Cup at Bangladesh in October against Sri Lanka.
🚨 ICYMI, the ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year 2022 was revealed!#ICCAwards | ✍: https://t.co/2fNP8t6PT7 pic.twitter.com/Qj7xMVdAVy
— ICC (@ICC) January 23, 2023
26-year-old Smriti scored an unbeaten 51 off just 25 balls while chasing 66, making more than 70 per cent of the team’s runs. In the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, she made two half-centuries helping India to win in both these matches against Pakistan and England respectively. She finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer in the year in women’s T20Is.
India’s all-rounder Deepti was the joint-third-highest wicket taker in women’s T20Is in 2022, taking 29 wickets in the year, averaging 18.55 with the ball at an economy rate of just over six.
25-year-old Deepti scored 370 runs in the year with the bat, averaging 37 at a strike-rate of 136.02, considerably higher than her career strike rate of 106.39 in T20Is. She was named the Player of the Tournament in the Women’s Asia Cup in Bangladesh for taking 13 wickets . In the final against Sri Lanka, she was disciplined with the new ball bowling a miserly spell of 4-0-7-0.
On the other hand, wicket-keeper batter Richa was a standout player for India in T20Is in 2022. In her 18 matches, the 19-year-old amassed 259 runs with a strike rate of over 150 in the year smashing 13 sixes and showcasing incredible flair in the lower middle order. Her best came in a home series against Australia at Brabourne Stadium when she smashed an unbeaten 40 in just 19 balls, an effort which went in vain.
Renuka, one of the nominees for the ICC Women’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year award for 2022, picked 22 wickets at an average of 23.95 and an economy rate of 6.50. She troubled the Australia’s batting line-up in the seven T20I meetings across the year, taking eight wickets.
Her performances across the Commonwealth Games and Asia Cup were superlative, as the 26-year-old picked 17 wickets in 11 matches, at an economy of just 5.21. Her best came against the Aussies in Birmingham, when she produced a brilliant spell of 4/18 that included 16 dot balls.
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