Top 5 players to watch out for in the 2024 T20 World Cup

The T20 World Cup 2024 is all set to get underway on Saturday, June 1. Co-host United States (USA) and Canada will kickstart proceedings in a Group A match at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas. India are the current favourites to win the tournament and are best priced at 4.33 with Parimatch.

However, the focus will be on the marquee clash to be held on Sunday, June 9 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. India will also play a warm-up match against Najmul Hossain Shanto’s Bangladesh at the same venue.

South Africa, West Indies, USA, Pakistan, Ireland, England, and Bangladesh also played international series recently, keeping in mind their preparations for the World Cup.

If you want to bet on the T20 World Cup, we recommend reading our betting guide and tips, which will help you find the best operator to place your bets.

England are the defending champions after they beat Pakistan in the final of the 2022 edition. Among all the 20 teams, several quality players will be taking part, and hence, the matches are expected to be exciting as well.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is one cricketer to watch out for. The former Indian skipper is the all-time leading run-scorer in the history of the T20 World Cups. In 27 matches since he first played back in 2012, Kohli has racked up 1141 runs at an average of 81.50 and a strike-rate of 131.30 with 14 half-centuries and a top score of 89 not out to show for his efforts.

He is also one of the 2 batters, along with Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene, to have scored over 1000 runs since the inception of the mega event back in 2007. It is highly likely that the upcoming edition would be his last in the World Cup and he would want to go out with a bang. Kohli recently became the first Indian to win the Orange Cap in the IPL twice, and that should keep him in a positive frame of mind.

Babar Azam

Babar Azam is one of the players to look out for in the T20 World Cup. In 13 matches in the tournament, the Pakistan captain has scored 427 runs at an average of 35.58 and a strike-rate of 114.47 with 5 half-centuries and a top score of 70 to his name. If he scores 220 runs in the next season, he would break Shoaib Malik’s record of most runs for Pakistan in the T20 World Cup.

Babar recently broke Virat Kohli’s record of most 50 plus scores in T20Is. Although he has had his fair share of ups and downs in the last couple of years, one would Babar to step in the big occasion and guide Pakistan through to victory.

Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan is only 1 of the 2 cricketers along with India’s Rohit Sharma to have played since the inaugural edition of the tournament. In 36 matches, Shakib has scored 742 runs at an average of 23.93 and a strike-rate of 122.44 with 3 fifties and a highest score of 84. If he gets on a roll, he could well become the third batter with 1000 runs in the World Cup.

Shakib is currently the all-time leading wicket-taker in the history of the championship. He has taken 47 matches at an economy rate of 6.78. Being only 3 wickets short of the 50-wicket milestone, the Bangladesh legend needs to be on top of his game.

Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan has been an asset for the Afghanistan team, especially in T20Is. He is currently third in the list of all-time leading wicket-takers in T20Is after Tim Southee and Shakib. In only 85 matches, the leg-spinner has accounted for 138 scalps at a stupendous economy rate of 6.07 with 5 four-wicket hauls and 2 five-wicket hauls.

Rashid Khan has had a decent run in T20 World Cups as well. In 15 matches since his debut back in 2016, the youngster has taken 23 wickets at an economy rate of 6.37. Rashid is no mug with the bat in hand as he has scored 2206 runs in his T20 career with 2 half-centuries and a top score of 79 not out.  

Travis Head

Travis Head has played 26 T20Is for Australia and has scored 29.81 and a strike-rate of 147.08, numbers which are not scary. But bearing in mind his recent form, it should not raise eyebrows if he goes on to become the leading run-scorer of the next season. In 15 matches in IPL 2024, Head raced his way to scoring 567 runs from 15 matches at a strike-rate of 191.55.

The left-handed batter also racked up the fourth fastest hundred in the history of the IPL, although he failed to deliver in the playoffs and final. Overall, in T20 cricket, Head has scored 3163 runs from 125 matches at an average of 29.56 with 2 centuries and 14 half-centuries to his name.