Is Babar Azam on ICC Men's T20I Team of 2022?

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday revealed the Men's T20I Team of the Year 2022, with two Pakistani players in the team. 

ICC included players in the year's team based on their performance in all three departments of the game.

However, Pakistani skipper Babar Azam missed out on the ICC's team of the year. The Men In Greens' Haris Rauf and Mohammad Rizwan made it to the T20I squad of the year 2022. 

Babar played 26 T20Is in 2022 and scored 735 runs at an average of 31.95 including a century. He also led Pakistan in the final of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 and Asia Cup 2022.

England's Jos Buttler was named captain of ICC's shorter format team. The wicket-keeper batter led his side to a T20 World Cup triumph in Australia in last November. Buttler smoked 462 runs at an explosive strike rate of 160.41 in 2022.

Rizwan, who won the best T20I cricketer of the year award in 2021, amassed 996 runs, the second-highest after India's Suryakumar Yadav last year. It must be noted here that Rizwan is also among the competitors for ICC Men's T20I cricketer of the year (2022).

After taking 31 wickets in 2022, Haris has joined the pace attack of the ICC T20I team of the year.

India's Virat Kohli and Yadav are also in the playing XI.

ICC Men's T20I Team of the year contains three players from India, two each from England and Pakistan and a player each from New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Ireland, and Sri Lanka.

ICC Men's T20I Team of the Year (2022)

Jos Buttler (c) (England), Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan), Virat Kohli (India), Suryakumar Yadav (India), Glenn Phillips (New Zealand), Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe). Hardik Pandya (India), Sam Curran (England), Hardik Pandya (India), Wahindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka), Haris Rauf (Pakistan), Josh Little (Ireland)

Women's squad

For the Women's T20I Team of the Year 2022, all-rounder Nida Dar becomes the only Pakistani player to be named in the squad. 

Four Indian players alongside three from Australia and a player each from New Zealand, Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka were named to the elite T20I women's team.

New Zealand's Sophie Devine has been named the captain of the side.

Dar, with 15 wickets at an average of 18.33 and an economy rate of 5.50 in T20Is in 2022, enjoyed one of the best years in her career. Only in her three out of 14 T20I appearances in 2022, Nida went wicketless.

Dar's best all-rounder performance came against arch-rivals India in the Women’s Asia Cup 2022 when she scored 56* off 37 balls with the bat before taking 2-23 with the ball to win the Player of the Match award as Pakistan notched a win over India.

Nida was also nominated for ICC's Women's T20I Player of the Year for her stellar performances in the previous year.

ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year (2022)

Sophie Devine (New Zealand) (c), Smriti Mandhana (India), Beth Mooney (Australia), Ash Gardner (Australia), Tahila McGrath (Australia), Nida Dar (Pakistan), Deepti Sharma (India), Richa Ghosh (India), Sophie Ecclestone (England), Inoka Ranaweera (Sri Lanka), and Renuka Singh (India).