The annual ICC Teams of the Year for 2022 are out in five categories: Men’s Tests, ODIs and T20Is, and Women’s ODIs and T20Is. There are some usual suspects, the best of the crop across each format, of course, but there are a few names in each XI that might compel you to turn to the ESPNcricinfo stats pages for a quick double-check.
Men’s Test XI: Usman Khawaja, Kraigg Brathwaite, Marnus Labuschagne, Babar Azam, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada, Nathan Lyon, James Anderson.
This was the year of buzzball, and it’s no surprise that Ben Stokes would be captaining the team, even though it featured four Australians – Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon. This is to be expected, after all, with Australia topping the World Test Championship table.
India are second on that table, but after a year in which they have played just seven Tests, only Rishabh Pant finds a place in the XI.
Stokes’ teammates Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson join the line-up, which also includes one player each from the West Indies (Kraigg Brathwaite), Pakistan (Babar Azam) and South Africa (Kagiso Rabada).
Men’s ODI XI: Babar Azam (c), Travis Head, Shai Hope, Shreyas Iyer, Tom Latham (wk), Sikandar Raza, Mehidy Hasan Miraj, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammad Siraj, Trent Boult, Adam Zampa.
Babar is equally lonely in the men’s ODI XI where, again, he is the only one from Pakistan. But he will be leading a side that has two Indians in Shreyas Iyer and Mohammed Siraj.
This is a solid-looking side, with Bangladesh represented by Mehidy Hasan Miraj and Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza having a remarkable year in both white-ball formats. In addition, there are two players each from Australia (Travis Head and Adam Zampa), New Zealand (Tom Latham and Trent Boult) and West Indies (Shai Hope and Alzarri Joseph).
But 2022 was a T20 World Cup year, unlike 2023, an ODI World Cup year where teams would play a lot more 50-over cricket. So we might have a better idea of the world’s best ODIs around this time next year.
Men’s T20I XI: Jos Buttler (Captain, Wicket-keeper), Mohammad Rizwan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Sikandar Raza, Hardik Pandya, Sam Curran, Wanindu Hasaranga, Haris Rauf, Josh Little.
Raza is also in this XI, as are Ireland’s Josh Little and Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga, all big performers throughout the year and especially in the T20 World Cup.
England won that tournament. Jos Buttler led them there and will lead the team here. Sam Curran was the best performer of the tournament for England, and is here as well. India is being represented by Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, who have probably been the most talked about players in this format last year. And, to round things off, there are Mohammad Rizwan and Haris Rauf from Pakistan and Glenn Phillips from New Zealand.
Women’s ODI XI: Alyssa Healy (wk), Smriti Mandhana, Laura Wolvaardt, Nat Sciver, Beth Mooney, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Amelia Kerr, Sophie Ecclestone, Ayabonga Khaka, Renuka Singh, Shabnam Ismail.
If the men played the T20 World Cup in 2022, the women played their ODI World Cup. Australia won. Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney, two of their best batsmen in the competition, made it to the XI. England, the team they beat in the final, also has two representatives – Nat Sciver and Sophie Ecclestone, arguably the bowler of the year.
India, who failed to make it to the last four, actually have three star performers here: Smriti Mandhana, a mouth-watering opening pair with Healy, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, and swing bowler Renuka Singh, who has had such an impressive year.
The best represented team, incidentally, is South Africa, featuring Laura Wolvaardt, Ayabonga Khaka and Shabnim Ismail. And there can be no World XI without Amelia Kerr, who rounds off the 11.
Women’s T20I XI: Smriti Mandhana, Beth Mooney, Sophie Devine (c), Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Nida Dar, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Inoka Ranaweera, Renuka Singh.
If Mandhana is earmarked to open with Healy in the ODIs, she will be accompanied by Mooney in the T20Is, where Renuka is also accompanied by two other Indians: Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh, young wicketkeepers who are currently under-19 world champions. playing in cup.
Mooney aside, there are two other Australians in the T20I XI, Ashley Gardner and Tahlia McGrath, another player who made rapid progress across all formats in 2022.
However, the captain of the team is neither Australian nor Indian, but New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine. Two other Asians complete the XI: Pakistan’s Nida Dar and Sri Lanka’s Inoka Ranaweera.
