The year is set to say goodbye on a happy note as Mithali Raj, Ekta Bisht and Harmanpreet Kaur has been included in the elite ICC Teams Of The Year list, the International Cricket Council has announced.
Veteran Mithali Raj, captain of the Indian women's one day internationals, was named in the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year while left-arm spinner Bisht was the only cricketer to secure a place in the both the ODI and T20 Teams of the year announced by the world body. Harmanpreet Kaur is also enlisted in the ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year.
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The ICC announced the women's ODI and T20I teams of the year on December 21. From England, Heather Knight would captain the 50-over side. Stafanie Taylor of the West Indies has been appointed skipper of the 20-over side.
"The fact that the World Cup matches were televised, pretty much all of India's matches and the way people responded on social media has definitely been the biggest change. Definitely whatever we achieved for the last few years, we never got appreciated like we are being now. People now draw comparisons of the stats of women and men's cricket on social media, but in a way, I see it is good. Finally, people are waking up to the stats of the women's cricket and what we have achieved in this long career," Mithali explained to India Today.
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Raj emerged as the most successful captain of the women’s team over the years and 2017 was no different. The batswoman has became the leading run-getter. She also acquired the tag of champion when leading the Indian team to the final of the ICC Women's World Cup in England in July. Raj thus became a game-changer for women's cricket. She is also the first batswoman to score 6000 runs in ODIs in the course of India's World Cup league game against Australia at Bristol. The India captain now stands tall as the leading run-scorer in women's cricket, having overtaken Charlotte Edwards of England.
READ: Mithali Raj To Write Her Memoir
On the other hand, India Twenty20 Internationals skipper Harmanpreet is not in the ODIs but has been chosen in the ICC Women's T20I team of the year.
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