Smriti Mandhana Excluded; WPL 2024 Discard Leads ICC Women’s T20I Team Of The Year
Chamari Athapaththu in action for Sri Lanka Women (ACC)
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has unveiled the T20I team of the year 2023. Sri Lankan captain and all-round legend Chamari Athapaththu was chosen as captain of the side, which features several Australian T20 World Cup 2023 winning members.
The team was selected by the ICC on the basis of their T20I performance throughout the year 2023.
Chamari Athapaththu to lead T20I Team of 2023
Legendary Sri Lankan all-rounder Chamari Athapaththu has been appointed captain of ICC's Women's T20I Team of the Year 2023. Notably, in December 2023, Athapaththu was disregarded by all Women's Premier League (WPL) franchises during the auction event for the much-awaited 2024 season.
Apart from Athapaththu, the ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year 2023 features as many as four Australian cricketers from their 2023 T20 World Cup winning line-up. Among Indian players, only Deepti Sharma managed to make a cut into the prestigious annual XI.
Belligerent South African batter Laura Wolvaardt, West Indies all-rounder Hayley Matthews, English stars Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone and New Zealand cricketer Amelia Kerr also constituted the elite XI as handpicked by the ICC Voting Academy.
ICC’s Women’s T20I Team of the Year 2023:
Chamari Athapaththu (c), Beth Mooney (wk), Laura Wolvaardt, Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr, Ellyse Perry, Ash Gardner, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone and Megan Schutt.
 "Aakash Saini")
