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India's star cricketer Smriti Mandhana has been named in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's T20I Team of the Year for 2021. The stylish opener is rewarded for her excellent performance in the calendar year as she was India's top run-getter in all three formats. Mandhana is the only Indian in ICC's team led by England's Nat Sciver. The Mumbai-born batter beat Australia's Beth Mooney to be part of the team.
Playing in nine T20Is in 2021, the 25-year-old smashed 255 runs at an average of 31.87 in the format in 2021. Her strike rate of 131.44 has proved to be an Achilles heel for the opposition in the last few years. She also scored two fifties in the calendar year with including a 70-run knock against England in Chelmsford in July 2021. She also scored 52 against Australia in October.
Apart from Sciver, the list contains four more England players. Tammy Beaumont was an obvious choice with her reliable batting display. She scored 303 runs at an average of 33.66 in nine matches. The nine innings also included three fifties.
Danielle Wyatt also had a stellar year in 2021 as she maintained a strike rate of 133.33. Considered as one of the best T20I batters in the world, she scored 252 runs at an average of 31.50.
The ICC Women's Team of the Year also includes three players from South Africa and one each from Ireland, Zimbabwe and India.
Smriti would certainly like to have another great year as the Women's ODI World Cup starts in just over a month.
The Indian team will next be in action against New Zealand in a five-ODI series where they will prepare for the upcoming mega event. The Indian team finished runners-up in the 2017 edition. This time they will try to go one better and win their maiden World Cup title.
