Harmanpreet named ICC World T20 team captain, Smriti and Poonam in T20 and ODI teams

India's Harmanpreet Kaur was Monday named captain of the ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year, which also includes two of her compatriots Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav.

Opening batswoman Mandhana and leg-spinner Yadav were also included in the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year, which has New Zealander Suzie Bates as captain.

The ODI and T20 sides were selected by a voting academy, which has former players like Lisa Sthalekar, Charlotte Edwards, Anjum Chopra and members of the media, and took into consideration performances in the 2018 calendar year.

Harmanpreet has been rewarded for spearheading India to the semifinals of the ICC Women's World T20 2018 in the West Indies in November.

"In that tournament, (Harmanpreet) Kaur scored 183 runs at a strike-rate of 160.5, while in the 25 matches in the calendar year, she accumulated 663 runs at a strike-rate of 126.2. Kaur is ranked third in the MRF Tyres ICC Women's Player Rankings for T20I Batters," the ICC said in a statement.

The 29-year-old Harmanpreet said she was surprised to have been named captain of the World T20 XI.

"To be honest, it was really surprising for me. The last two years we did not get enough T20I matches to play and it was really tough for me to build that confidence in the team and show that self-belief that we can do well in T20Is. Credit goes to all team members, the way they worked hard and show that self-belief," Kaur said.

"This award means a lot to me to build my confidence, BCCI is showing confidence on me - that I can do well in the format and I am looking forward to do well in the future."
ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Smriti Mandhana (India), Tammy Beaumont (England), Suzie Bates (New Zealand; captain), Dane van Niekerk (South Africa), Sophie Devine (New Zealand), Alyssa Healy (Australia; wk),