It was only less than a week back when the IPL 2021 concluded in UAE, and focus quickly shifted to T20 cricket’s international extravaganza: The T20 World Cup 2021.
With the tournament proper kicking off on Saturday with the game between Australia and South Africa, the eight teams who had already qualified wrapped up their preparations with the warm-up matches concluding on Thursday.
India faced off with England and Australia in their practice games, with the Men in Blue emerging victorious on both occasions. The practice games were an opportunity for teams to finalise the team combinations, and there will be a few players, like KL Rahul or Glenn Maxwell, who could make an impact in the tournament.
Here, we look at 10 players to watch out for in the tournament proper:
Tabraiz Shamsi (South Africa)
Tabraiz Shamsi, the South African wrist spinner, has been in stellar form in T20Is this year, scalping 28 wickets from 17 games, which is even the highest wicket tally by any bowler in T20Is this year.
File image of Tabraiz Shamsi. AFP
With the pitches in UAE offering flat and spinning conditions, the Proteas have of late gone with four spinners – Bjorn Fortuin, Tabraiz Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and part-time bowler Aiden Markram.
The quartet, in fact, enjoyed a brilliant series with the ball, scalping 16 wickets among them with Shamsi picking four, as he finished with best figures of 3/20 in the series.
Shamsi’s economy rate of 5.53 this year in T20Is speak for itself, and most recently he even troubled the Lankan batters during the Proteas’ away tour in September, keeping the hosts at bay. Shamsi also has the ability to decimate batters with his bowling variations, and his googly in particular, which could be effective come the T20 World Cup.
Shamsi will be complemented by the pace trio of Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada, which makes the Proteas a threatening bowling lineup.
Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Babar Azam’s rise in international cricket has been nothing less than a spectacle since May 2015, when he made his ODI debut. And since then, he’s not only gone onto become one of the most prolific batsmen, but also has grown onto become a valiant captain across formats.
And come the T20 World Cup, Babar will be leading the Pakistan side for the first time in an ICC tournament.
Babar has scored 2,204 runs in T20Is at a strike rate of 130.64, and his consistency is hardly ever in question, having averaged 37 or above in a calendar year.
In 2021 alone, Babar Azam has aggregated 523 runs in T20Is from just 14 innings with a strike rate of 132.74 (one century and four fifties), so he is sure to add stability to Pakistan’s batting order and help his team in posting some big totals.
Speaking of form, Babar was involved in yet another match-winning performance courtesy his half-century and Fakhar Zaman’s 46 as Pakistan defeated West Indies in a T20 World Cup warm-up match.
Nicholas Pooran (West Indies)
Nicholas Pooran, the West Indies’ vice-captain, has the potential to become a game-changer, and his contribution will be vital to the team as the Caribbean outfit aims to go deep into the tournament in their bid for defending the T20 World Cup title.
One of Pooran’s biggest strengths are his exceptional pull against the short balls, while also going down the ground for productive runs.
On his day, Pooran can be destructive as he showcased for West Indies in July, when he smashed a 33-ball 62 against Pakistan, albeit in a losing cause.
While the recently-concluded edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 did not witness the aggressive version of Pooran, he was, in fact, among the boundaries in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) that preceded the IPL, smashing with as many as 25 sixes, just 13 behind Evin Lewis (38).
KL Rahul (India)
One of the Indian batsmen in top form heading to the T20 World Cup has been KL Rahul, who registered his fourth consecutive 500-plus run-tally in an Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Rahul’s runs tally of 659, 593, 670 and 626 in the last four editions of the IPL shows why he is still a force to reckon with in the biggest stage.
File image of KL Rahul. Sportzpics
For large part of the IPL season that concluded recently, Rahul seemed to be in the reckoning for the Orange Cap, only for CSK’s Ruturaj Gaikwad to seize the honours with 635 runs, which turned out to be his breakthrough season with the addition of Chennai Super Kings winning their fourth IPL crown.
Building upto the tournament, Rahul scored 51 against England in the first warm-up match, while forging an 82-run stand with Ishan Kishan. The Karnataka batter then followed it up with a knock of 39 against Australia in the final practice game on Wednesday, while opening with Rohit Sharma.
Come tournament proper, Rahul will get a chance to add another feather in the cap, not only by continuing his stupendous form, but also with skipper Kohli confirming that Rahul is set to all but open the batting with Rohit Sharma, while Kohli bats at three.
Glenn Maxwell (Australia)
Probably the X-factor in RCB’s playoffs journey in the IPL that concluded recently, Australia’s Glenn Maxwell silenced his critics with valuable contributions throughout the season. Maxwell’s tally of 513 in the IPL this season was his best, since scoring 552 runs in total in the 2014 edition.
While he’s had a few poor seasons in the IPL, the recently-concluded season should add as a morale-booster for Maxwell and Australia, as Aaron Finch and Co look to end the T20 World Cup trophy drought with a maiden title.
Maxwell can, sometimes, change the tempo and fortunes of a game, and one of his strengths is reading the ball accurately and unleashing his switch hitting and reverse sweeps. Thanks to his acrobatic batting efforts, Maxwell is sure to give opposition bowlers a nightmare come the World Cup.
Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)
What makes Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan a threat in the shortest format of cricket is his combination of wicket-taking capability coupled with bowling game-changing economical spells.
Khan, who is just five away from 100 T20I wickets, even has quick hands that lets him generate a sharp turn by ripping the ball.
Expect Khan to also decimate the opposition batters with his googly, especially on slow tracks that could assist the spinners.
While Sunrisers had a rather disappointing campaign where they finished rock-bottom in the IPL, Rashid Khan still enjoyed a successful run in terms of wickets, with 18 scalps, more than any SRH bowler this season.
Josh Inglis (Australia)
Many may not be familiar with the up and coming Australian wicketkeeper batter Josh Inglis. Inglis is a Leeds-born Aussie cricketer, who lived in the United Kingdom until the age of 14, when is family emigrated to Australia.
The 26-year-old made a name for himself when he aggregated a mammoth 531 runs in the 2021 Vitality T20 Blast, playing for Leicestershire.
He’s also been a vital part of Perth Scorchers in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL), and in the last two editions, Inglis has totalled 400-plus in each of them.
Spin will play a crucial part in the upcoming tournament, and one reason that persuaded the Australian selectors to name Inglis in the squad is his ability to tackle spinners, according to head of selectors George Bailey.
“We think he brings some great flexibility .. His transformation into the middle-order at the Scorchers was seamless. He’s a good player of spin, and provides a few different finishing abilities by playing all around the ground, but he’s really powerful as well — a great all-round player,” Bailey had told Fox Sports in August.
Tymal Mills (England)
It has been four years since his last appearance in international cricket, and this time around, pacer Tymal Mills received a recall to the national setup for the showpiece even of T20I cricket.
With Jofra Archer and Sam Curran being absent, having Tymal Mills in the squad would be a blessing in disguise for England.
What makes Mills a strong bowling option is his effectiveness in death bowling: As per CricViz in July, Mills has the lowest death bowling economy rate of 7.47 when it comes to bowling the last four overs.
Mills, who is capable of bowling at 90mph, recently had a decent outing in both T20 Blast and The Hundred, picking 17 and eight wickets respectively, even helping Southern Brave clinch The inaugural The Hundred tournament.
His form in cricket leagues such as this would certainly be a benefit going into the tournament.
Devon Conway (New Zealand)
A potential key figure should New Zealand go onto win the T20 World Cup, 30-year-old Devon Conway has had a significant rise in international cricket, scoring a double century against England in his Test debut at Lord’s earlier this summer.
But Conway had made his mark in T20I cricket well before that. In November 2020 during a home series, he slammed a 29-ball 41 against West Indies in is T20I debut, and followed it up with an unbeaten 61 against the same opponents two days later.
But then, in February this year, came his most memorable T20I knock yet: A 59-ball unbeaten 99 against Australia at Christchurch that had a major impact on the outcome of the game.
What makes Conway even more dangerous is the strike rate that he possesses in the death overs (17-20) in T20Is: 241, and this seems to show that his role, batting in the last few overs will be of prominence for the Kiwis throughout the tournament.
Haider Ali (Pakistan)
Pakistan’s 21-year-old middle-order batsman Haider Ali was not initially in the team’s T20 World Cup squad, but was named as a late inclusion, thanks to his brilliant form in the domestic National T20 Cup. Ali slammed 317 runs at an average of 63.40, and a strike rate of over 146.
In September last year, Ali made his international debut for Pakistan against England at Old Trafford, where struck 54 runs off 33 balls to help Pakistan clinch a three-run win.
Ali will get set to play a supporting role to skipper Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, enter the World Cup.