They started the year off with the away series against South Africa where they played the South Africans in both the T20s and ODIs. They won both the ODI series 2-1 and the T20s by 3-1.

After their successful campaign against the South Africans, the Indian team went through a rough phase as they were blanked 3-0 by the Australians in the ODI series. Following their embarrassing show against the Aussies, the Indians had a terrible tri-nation series which comprised of Australia, England and the hosts India.

The Indians played four games where they lost three games and won one game. They were beaten twice by the Aussies and once by England. Their only victory came in their last game against England.

Following the performance in the tri-nation series, the Indian team faced the English at home in the ODI series which they won 2-1. This was crucial for the Indians as they prepared for the T20 Asia Cup. The Indian team faced an upset in the finals of the Asia Cup as they went on to lose to the Bangladesh who beat them twice in the tournament.

After the upset loss in the finals of the Asia Cup the Indians went on to play the Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka where they put up a dominant show to thrash them 4-0 in the T20s and 2-1 in the ODIs.

The last tournament of the year for the women’s team was the Women’s T20 World Cup which was played in West Indies. The Indian team was placed in Group B with Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Ireland. The Indian team won all four of their group games and topped Group B. The Indians got knocked out in the semi-finals of the World Cup by England.

The star performers for the Indian team in 2018 are as follows.

#1 Smriti Mandhana

The 22-year-old from Maharashtra, Smriti Mandhana, had a year to remember as she won the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year Award and the award for the ODI player of the year for her heroics with the bat.

She also emerged as the highest run-scorer in 2018 in ODI cricket with 669 runs in 12 games at an impressive average of 66.90. She also was the third highest run scorer in T20s for 2018 with 622 runs which made her the only player to score over 600 runs in both ODIs and T20s in 2018. Mandhana had also received the Arjuna Award in 2018 for her contribution to Indian cricket.

Madnhana was the second highest run scorer in the tri-nation series which featured India, England, and Australia. She scored 208 runs in 4 matches at an average of 69.33. She even emerged as the 3rd Highest run scorer in the Women’s World T20.

She earlier played in England’s Kia Super League for the Western Storm where she emerged as the highest run scorer with 421 runs in 10 games. She scored these runs at an average of 60.14 and a strike rate of 174.68.

She is currently playing for the Hobart Hurricanes in the fourth season of the Women’s Big Bash League. She also features in ICC’s top 10 rankings for women in both ODI and T20s.

#2 Harmanpreet Kaur

Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian T20I skipper, emerged as the second highest run scorer in T20s in 2018. She scored 663 runs at an average of 41.43. Apart from this, she also picked up 10 wickets in T20s at an average of 16.50 with an economy rate of 6.60.

Her consistent show in the T20 format both as a captain and all-rounder not only found her a place in the ICC T20 Team of the Year but also made her the Captain of the ICC T20 Team of the Year. She is currently playing for the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League where she is one of the top run scorers.

She ended the year on a high as she emerged as the second highest run-scorer in the T20 World Cup where she scored 183 runs at an average of 45.75 and a strike rate of 160.52. Her strike rate was the best amongst the players who scored over 100 runs.

#3 Poonam Yadav

Poonam Yadav had a year to remember as she was selected in both the ICC T20 and ODI Team of the Year. She was rewarded with a place in the Team of the Year due to her consistent show with the ball.

She emerged as the highest wicket taker in T20s with 35 wickets coming at a staggering average of 14.91 and an economy rate as low as 5.80. Apart from this, she was also the joint highest wicket-taker alongside Kiwi bowler Leigh Kasperek in ODIs with 20 wickets.

She was the second highest wicket-taker in the Asia Cup with 10 wickets in six games. She ended the year in the second place in the ICC T20 bowlers rankings. Earlier in the year, she went past the veteran bowler Jhulan Goswami to become India’s all-time leading wicket-taker in T20s.

She currently has 69 wickets in T20s at an average of 13.62 and an economy rate of 5.56.

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