Deepti Sharma, the competition’s leading wicket-taker who took a magnificent five for 39 in the final, will be supported by his teammates Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues.
The trio will be joined by three players from the tournament’s runners-up, South Africa – Team of the Tournament captain, Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk – as well as an equal number of Australians – Ashleigh Gardner, Annabel Sutherland and Alana King.
Two English players – Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone – and Pakistani Sidra Nawaz complete the squad.
The selection panel consists of commentators Ian Bishop, Mel Jones and Isa Guha, Gaurav Saxena (ICC General Manager – Events and Corporate Communications) and Estelle Vasudevan (journalist representative).
The opening players in the final were the opposing teams, with Mandhana chosen to partner Laura Wolvaardt at the top.
The pair finished the competition confidently as leading run-scorers, with Wolvaardt topping the table with 571 points with a superb average of 71.37 – the leading individual run-scorer at an ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup – including majestic back-to-back centuries in the semi-final and final.
Mandhana, who reached three figures herself in the league phase against New Zealand, finished the tournament with 434 runs at an average of 54.25.
Mandhana’s teammate Rodrigues finished third after a memorable 127-point win to propel the hosts into the final at Australia’s expense.
Sharma is another Indian star who was picked after she topped the bowling charts with 22 scalps, including her crucial appearance in the showpiece.
In addition to Wolvaardt, the Proteas are also well represented. Marizanne Kapp takes her place in the team after another strong performance with bat and ball in recent weeks. She scored two half-centuries and took twelve wickets. This tally was five for 20 against England in the semi-final, which helped her become the leading wicket-taker in ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup history.
Her teammate Nadine de Klerk also had an impressive all-around tournament. Her unbeaten 84 off 54 balls helped her side win against India in the league phase, while she also contributed nine wickets.
Australian bowlers Alana King and Annabel Sutherland both represent the best bowling figures of any ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup after King made history with seven to 18 against South Africa in the league phase.
Sutherland finished the game with 17 wickets, second only to Sharma. She contributed an unbeaten 98 to help her side overtake England in the round-robin phase. She did this as part of a 180-run stand with Ashleigh Gardner, who compiled her second century of the competition in the match and is named in the middle order – she also took seven wickets for good measure.
Sidra Nawaz takes the gloves after three catches and four stumps for Pakistan, including a sublime leg-side strike to dismiss Harmanpreet Kaur against India and lightning-quick reflexes to deflect balls and dismiss Kim Garth in her side’s clash against Australia.
Sophie Ecclestone completes the 11 after taking 16 wickets at 14.25 each, including four wickets against Sri Lanka and South Africa, while her teammate Nat Sciver-Brunt, who contributed 262 runs and nine wickets, is selected as the 12th player after an excellent first World Cup as captain.
ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Team of the Tournament
Smriti Mandhana
Laura Wolvaardt (c)
Rodrogue
Marizanne Kapp
Ashleigh Gardner
Deepti Sharma
Annabel Sutherland
Nadine de Klerk
Sidra Nawaz (f)
Alana King
Sophie Ecclestone
Nat Sciver-Brunt (12th player)
