ISLAMABAD: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday announced the women’s ODI and T20I teams of the year with England’s Heather Knight named as captain of the 50-over side and Stafanie Taylor of the Windies appointed captain of the 20-over side. Interestingly, no Pakistan women player was able to make to any of the teams. “The two sides were selected by the same panel, which had voted for the annual individual awards, and included Chloe Saltau, Mel Jones, Lisa Sthalekar (all Australia); Charlotte Edwards, Kalika Mehta, Alison Mitchell, Alan Wilkins (all England and Wales); Anjum Chopra, Snehal Pradhan (both India); Olivia Caldwell (New Zealand); Firdose Moonda, Natalie Germanos (both South Africa); Sa’adi Thawfeeq (Sri Lanka) and Ian Bishop, Fazeer Mohammad (Windies),” said a media release of the ICC. The panel took into consideration player performances from 21st September 2016 to date. Knight was named captain after she inspired her side to a stunning ICC Women’s World Cup victory in front of a packed Lord’s on 23rd July in what was a game-changer for women’s cricket. Whilst the world’s top-ranked T20I batter Taylor was given the nod as captain of the inaugural ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year, introduced as part of the ICC’s commitment to enhance the profile of women’s cricket and bring greater equity with the men’s game. The ODI side comprises players from five countries, including two Australians (Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry), four England players (Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight, Sarah Taylor and Alex Hartley), two Indians (Mithali Raj and Ekta Bisht), one New Zealander (Amy Satterthwaite) and two South Africans (Dane van Niekerk and Marizanne Kapp). The side includes the world’s top four ranked batters in Raj, Perry, Lanning and Satterthwaite, while amongst the bowlers, Kapp is ranked number one, van Niekerk (ninth), Perry (13th), Bisht (14th) and Hartley (18th). Wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor is ranked 10th in the batting table, while her team-mate Beaumont is ranked 15th. The T20I side is made up of three Australians (Beth Mooney, Megan Schutt, Amanda-Jade Wellington), one from England (Danni Wyatt), two from India (Harmanpreet Kaur and Ekta Bisht), two from New Zealand (Sophie Devine and Lea Tahuhu) and three from the Windies (Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews). India’s left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht is the only cricketer to feature in both the ODI and T20I teams of the year. The 31-year-old from Uttarakhand is ranked 14th in ODIs and 12th in T20Is, and took 34 ODIs in 19 matches and 11 wickets in seven T20Is in the period under consideration. ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year: Tammy Beaumont (England), Meg Lanning (Australia), Mithali Raj (India), Amy Satterthwaite (New Zealand), Ellyse Perry (Australia), Heather Knight (captain) (England), Sarah Taylor (wicketkeeper) (England), Dane van Niekerk (South Africa), Marizanne Kapp (South Africa), Ekta Bisht (India), Alex Hartley (England). ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year: Beth Mooney (wicketkeeper) (Australia), Danni Wyatt (England), Harmanpreet Kaur (India), Stafanie Taylor (captain) (Windies), Sophie Devine (New Zealand), Deandra Dottin (Windies), Hayley Matthews (Windies), Megan Schutt (Australia), Amanda-Jade Wellington (Australia), Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand) and Ekta Bisht (India). Published in Daily Times, December 22nd 2017.