Mithali and two other Indians in ICC Women's World Cup Team

SYDNEY: Three Indians, includingformer captain Mithali Raj, figured in the team of the tournament of the ICCWomen's World Cup announced on Monday.Fast bowler Amita Sharma andwrist spinner Priyanka Roy were the other two Indians who found place in theWorld XI team. Skipper of the Cup-winning English side and ICC Women's Player ofthe Year in 2008, Charlotte Edwards was named captain of the 12-woman worldteam.Not surprisingly, players from the winning side made up most ofthe team but in total four of the eight competing teams in the March 7 to 22event are represented.Five of the team are from champion Englandwhile losing finalist New Zealand has provided three, including the 12th woman.Third-placed India has three and fourth-placed Australia has onerepresentation.The world team was selected by a specially assembledpanel of experts, headed by former Australia captain Belinda Clark, which hadalso picked the player of the tournament.The side includes fivespecialist batters -- Suzie Bates, Shelley Nitschke, Claire Taylor, Mithali Rajand Charlotte Edwards -- an all-rounder in Kate Pulford while Sarah Taylor hasbeen picked as wicketkeeper/batter.The four bowlers include wristspinner Priyanka Roy and off-spinner Laura Marsh and fast bowlers KatherineBrunt and Amita Sharma.The players who made the team will bepresented with commemorative caps to mark their selection.Announcingthe side, Belinda Clark, who is the most successful batter in women's ODIs with4,844 runs, said, "It has been a very difficult decision to select the team asthere were some very strong performances throughout the event. We had a range ofpeople around the table and quite heated debate because the performances havebeen outstanding in a lot of cases but also quite even and this is what made itdifficult."But I think we have tried to approach to pick a verybalanced team and pick a team which not only has great skills but the ability toinfluence a game and that's why we can't go purely on statistics," shesaid. Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Shelley Nitschke(Australia) Claire Taylor (England), Mithali Raj (India), Charlotte Edwards(England, captain), Kate Pulford (New Zealand), Sarah Taylor (England,wicket-keeper), Amita Sharma (India), Katherine Brunt (England), Priyanka Roy(India), Laura Marsh (England); 12th woman: Sophie Devine (New Zealand).