Babar Azam named captain of ICC ODI Team of the Year 2022

A day after announcing the T20I team of the Year 2022, the International Cricket Council (ICC) have announced their ODI team of the year. The apex body of the sport has named Babar Azam as the captain of the side, which also features two Indian players.

Babar, who finished as Pakistan's highest run-getter in 2022 with 679 runs in nine ODIs, has been named the opener alongside Travis Head. The Australian left-handed batter had fruitful series in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, followed by another productive time against England at home, averaging 68.75 in nine games.

Shai Hope and Shreyas Iyer are occupying the next two spots in the batting order, with the former scoring three centuries in 21 ODIs in 2022. Iyer, who bats at number four for India, was their highest 50-over run-getter last year with 724 runs in 17 matches at 55.69.

New Zealand's Tom Latham will keep wickets, having also performed well with the bat. The ICC have selected Sikandar Raza and Mehidy Hasan Miraz as the all-rounders.

Raza, the Zimbabwe all-rounder, hammered 645 runs in 15 ODIs in 2022 at 49.62 with three centuries. Meanwhile, Mehidy Hasan had a memorable time in the ODI series against India at home as he played a couple of match-winning knocks to lead Bangladesh to a historic win.

The second ODI against India in Mirpur saw the 25-year-old slam an 83-ball hundred to usher the hosts to a match-winning total of 271 from a hopeless 69-6. He also yielded 24 scalps in 15 matches in 2022 at 28.20.

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Adam Zampa is the only frontline spinner in the ICC ODI XI of 2022

Adam Zampa. (Image Credits: Getty)

The ICC have picked three pacers in Mohammed Siraj, Alzarri Joseph, and Trent Boult. Siraj snared 24 wickets in 15 games, while Boult took 18 scalps in six matches, followed by Joseph picking up 27 in 17 ODIs.

Zampa continues to be Australia's first-choice spinner in white-ball cricket and has gone from strength to strength. Despite missing the five-game series in Sri Lanka, the South Australian finished with 30 wickets in 12 ODIs at 17.53. He is the highest wicket-taker in ODIs in 2022 among the full-member nations.

ICC ODI XI of 2022: Babar Azam (c), Travis Head, Shai Hope, Shreyas Iyer, Tom Latham (wk), Sikandar Raza, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Siraj, Trent Boult, Adam Zampa.