The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 is upon us and this year, it is bigger and better. For the first time in history, mainstream cricket will be going to the USA. There will be matches played in New York, Dallas and Florida as ICC wants to gain new ground in the sport.
The event will also take place in the West Indies and will run from June 2 2024 to June 29 2024. Who are 10 best players to watch out for in this year’s T20 World Cup?
We take a closer look.
Virat Kohli, India
The former Indian captain and current superstar Virat Kohli has to top the list of the players to watch out for at the T20 World Cup 2024. He has been a bonafide superstar in world cricket and there is no denying that his will be the first wicket every team will want to take at the coveted competition. As things stand, no other batter has scored more runs than Kohli in the T20 World Cup. He has 1142 runs in 26 innings with a phenomenal average of 76.13 and a strike rate of 130.66. He has also hit 14 fifties, which is the most for any batter in the history of the competition.
Kohli is coming into the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 following an impeccable Indian Premier League 2024 where he was at the top of the run charts scoring 741 runs in 15 innings at an average of 61.75.
The men’s T20 World Cup has always brought out the best in Kohli the batter. Now that they are in American shores for the first time, Kohli will want to score big runs at the Big Apple and bring the cup home, something that he has not managed to even after so many attempts.
Babar Azam, Pakistan
Pakistan might not be the strongest team at the T20 World Cup 2024 but there is no denying that Babar Azam is one of the top 10 players to watch out for in T20 2024 World Cup. He has been in impressive form this year in the Pakistan Super League 2024 where he finished as the highest run scorer with the bat scoring 569 runs in 11 innings while averaging 56.90. He scored five fifties and one century in the tournament.
Babar will be captain of the Pakistan team at the T20 World Cup in 2024, a post he took over from Shaheen Shah Afridi leading into the tournament. He has enough experience of leading the Pakistan unit and will want to bring them glory for the first time since 2010. Pakistan are in group A of the World Cup alongside India, USA, Ireland and Canada. They play India on 9 June 2024.
Rohit Sharma, India
Rohit Sharma is one of the most important figures of the Indian side as they try and bring the coveted T20 World Cup trophy home. Rohit, the Indian captain, is second on the list for the most runs at this prestigious tournament. He has more than 1000 runs and averages in excess of 36. He is also one of two players to score more than 10 fifties in this competition.
Rohit was a key person in helping India win the T20 World Cup trophy in 2007. He narrowly lost the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 and will be very keen to bring the trophy home this time around. Rohit has not been in the greatest of form in the lead up to the tournament. He had an underwhelming IPL 2024 for Mumbai where he scored 417 runs in 14 innings while averaging 32.07. But despite that, Rohit is one of the best batters of the world and knows how to score runs when the chips are down.
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan
Rashid Khan will be leading the Afghanistan side for the T20 World Cup 2024. He is one of the finest players in world cricket at the moment, and on the slower pitches of the USA and West Indies, he can really prove to be a handful.
Rashid has not played a lot of cricket this year owing to a back surgery he underwent after the ODI World Cup in 2023, but in the IPL he was once again excellent. Rashid is miles ahead when it comes to most wickets taken by an Afghanistan bowler in T20Is.
He has picked 142 wickets in 86 innings, and will want to take his country quite far in this tournament.
Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka
Wanindu Hasaranga is the lynchpin of the Sri Lankan bowling unit. He is the captain of the team for the T20 World Cup and on the slower Caribbean and USA surfaces will be an integral cog of the setup. Hasaranga is comfortably the leading wicket-taker in T20Is for Sri Lanka this year. He’s picked 17 wickets in nine games averaging 13.82. But what’s more impressive is his economy of 6.65.
Hasaranga has been the leading wicket-taker in the last two editions of the World Cup. In the 2021 edition in the UAE, the legspinner finished with 16 wickets in eight innings, while averaging a mere 9.75. Then at the 2022 T20 World Cup, Hasaranga picked up 15 wickets in eight innings at an average of 13.26. Sri Lanka are in the group of death along with South Africa and Bangladesh, and Hasaranga’s bowling and leadership will be critical in them moving forward in the tournament.
David Miller, South Africa
David Miller has been an absolute superstar for the South African side. He is second on the list for the most runs scored by a South Africa batter – 2292 runs in 101 innings, while averaging 35.26. He also boasts of a strike rate of 144.15 and has struck seven fifties and two centuries in the shortest format of the game. Along with Rilee Rossouw, Miller is the only other batter from South Africa to have scored more than one century in T20Is. All this while batting lower down the order.
Miller is the designated finisher in this South Africa batting unit and has been doing that role for them for the longest time. While his team Gujarat, did not do too well in IPL 2024, Miller showed his impeccable prowess once again, scoring 210 runs in nine matches with an average of 35.00.
Miller has a decent record in T20 World Cup matches too: 319 runs in 16 innings while averaging 39.87. South Africa have an inexperienced batting unit at their disposal and Miller’s role in this team becomes key.
Jos Buttler, England
England might not start the T20 World Cup 2024 as absolute favourites, but there is little denying that Jos Buttler is the one player to look out for. The England T20 captain has been in sensational form this year. In the IPL, Buttler scored 359 runs in 11 innings, which included two fantastic centuries, both coming in tough circumstances. He was one of the main reasons behind Rajasthan qualifying for the playoffs.
The other thing that has gone Buttler’s way this year is that he has been in excellent keeping form as well. He finished 2023 with 325 runs in 10 T20I innings, and has started 2024 in the same form. England are the current T20 World Cup defending champions. They defeated Pakistan in the final in 2022 under Buttler’s leadership. If England harbour any thoughts of retaining that title, Buttler clicking will be absolutely vital for them. They are not in the easiest of groups, though, and Buttler’s leadership will be one to look out for.
Mitchell Starc, Australia
Mitchell Starc was ridiculed umpteen times for the amount of money he went for at the IPL auction. He became the costliest player in the history of the tournament when the Kolkata franchise splurged crores on him. He had the worst possible start to his IPL 2024 going for 100 runs across the first two matches. But when it mattered the most, the fast bowler stood tall, and how.
In the first qualifier against Sunrisers franchise, he cleaned up Travis Head with a peach of a ball. And then in the final, he smashed Abhishek Sharma’s stumps with arguably the ball of the tournament. There is no denying that Starc is the man for the big events. Be it the 2015 ODI World, 2023 ODI World Cup or Test championship, he has always stood tall.
Despite not playing T20Is as regularly, Starc has the second-most wickets for Australia in the format: 76 wickets in 62 matches. He will surely be one to keep an eye out for in the T20 World Cup.
Jasprit Bumrah, India
How can one keep boom, boom, Bumrah out of a team of players to watch out for? Jasprit Bumrah has been the mainstay of the Indian bowling unit for the longest time now. Give him any over, and he will come up with the goods. Just have a look at his performance at the IPL.
His team Mumbai was getting smashed around. They finished bottom of the points table, but Bumrah stood tall. He picked up 20 wickets in 13 matches while averaging 16.80. What was most impressive was his economy rate of 6.48. Bumrah was the third-highest wicket-taker in the IPL, despite playing lesser games.
Bumrah is third on the list for the most wickets for an Indian bowler in T20Is. He has 79 scalps in 63 innings. For India, he will remain key if they want to win the T20 World Cup in 2024.
Andre Russell
It’s been a standout year for this West Indian superstar. Andre Russell might be 36, but he seems to have found a second wind to his batting and bowling. In 25 T20 innings this year alone, Russell has struck 677 runs while averaging 48.35 which includes two fifties. But what has really caught the attention is his fearsome strike rate of 205.15.
Russell has also been exceptional with the ball. In the IPL 2024, he finished fourth on the wicket-taker’s list with 19 wickets in 14 innings at 15.52. His contribution with both bat and ball was critical in Kolkata winning their third IPL title.
Russell is a two-time T20 World Cup winning player, having been an integral part of the West Indies team in 2012 and 2016 and once again remains an important person if they want to go deep in the tournament at home.
FAQs
Is there new talent in the T20 World Cup 2024 to watch out for?
There is a lot of new talent to watch out for. In all, there are 20 teams taking part in this year’s T20 World Cup, and all the teams have young blood. For India, the likes of Axar Patel, Shivam Dube and Arshdeep Singh will want to make a mark.
Which allrounders can make a mark in the T20 World Cup 2024?
The one all rounder who will be itching to make a mark is Hardik Pandya. He did not have the best of times in the IPL 2024 and will want to make amends. Andre Russell will also be keen to showcase his all-round skills, so will Dube and Ravindra Jadeja.
