ICC T20 Team 2022: Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya among Indians to feature

Former India captain Virat Kohli, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and shortest format's number one batter Suryakumar Yadav were on Monday picked in the ICC Men's T20I team of 2022'. The ICC also announced the Women's Team of 2022 with four Indians in the lineup -- Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh and Renuka Singh. Kohli returned to his vintage form in 2022 and took the Asia Cup by storm, finishing as the second-highest run-getter with 276 runs in five games. He ended his century drought of nearly three years with a magnificent century against Afghanistan. Kohli played one of the most fantastic Twenty20 International (T20I) innings of 82 not out in India's heist against Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 opener in Melbourne.

Kohli ended the tournament with three more fifties and finished as the highest run-scorer with 296 runs. Surya became the only second batter to score more than 1000 runs in a calendar year. He ended as the top-run getter (1,164 runs) with two hundred and nine half-centuries while striking at a stunning 187.43.

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In the T20WC, Pandya amassed 239 runs at a strike rate of 189.68 and finished the year as the No 1 batter in the T20I Rankings. On the back of leading Gujarat Titans (GT) to its Indian Premier League (IPL) title in its maiden appearance, Pandya became the all-rounder. He enjoyed his best year by numbers in the Indian colours, scoring 607 runs while also picking up 20 wickets.

The 11-member side is led by T20WC-winning England skipper Jos Buttler, with runners-up Pakistan's Mohammed Rizwan as the opener and Haris Rauf as one of the two pace spearheads. India's batting superstar Smriti Mandhana finished the year as the fourth-highest run-scorer with 594 runs at an average of 33.00 and a strike rate of 133.48.

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Smriti also made two half-centuries and played a crucial role in India winning a historic silver at the Commonwealth Games 2022 (CWG) in Birmingham. Off-spin all-rounder Deepti had a standout year and was the Player of the Tournament in India's Asia Cup triumph. She finished the year with 29 wickets, the joint third-highest. She also made 370 runs averaging 37 with a strike rate of 136.02.

Richa was named the wicketkeeper-batter after a spectacular year of accumulating 259 runs in 18 matches. With 22 T20I wickets at an average of 23.95 and an economy rate of 6.50, Renuka had a standout year and was one of the nominees for the ICC Women's Emerging Cricketer of the Year.

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Men's Team: Jos Buttler (c & wk), Mohammed Rizwan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Sikandar Raza, Hardik Pandya, Sam Curran, Wanindu Hasaranga, Haris Rauf and Josh Little.
Women's Team: Sophie Devine (c), Smriti Mandhana, Beth Mooney, Ash Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Nida Dar, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Inoka Ranaweera and Renuka Singh.

(With inputs from PTI)