10 Players to look out for at the Cricket World Cup
With anticipation mounting for the 50 over world cup here is one player to keep an eye on for each
team who might be key for their team’s success…
Afghanistan: Rashid Kahn – The shining light in Afghanistan cricket. Known around the world as one
of the best white ball bowlers and has showcased his talents for some of the biggest franchise teams
across the world. Afghanistan will be hoping they can see the best of him this tournament as he will
be key if they want to make any noise this year.
Australia: Cameron Green – The big all-rounder has suffered a dip in form over the last six months as
he struggled in this summer Ashes series and Australia’s recent ODI’s. However, there is no doubt
the talent is there as he became the second most expensive player in IPL history and backed it up
with a brilliant hundred in the tournament earlier this year. Getting him back to his best will be vital
to the Aussie’s success as he provides balance to the side as he can produce match winning
performances in all three facets of the game.
Bangladesh: Shakib Al-Hasan – the experienced Shakib will be key to Bangladesh’s hopes at this
tournament as he is their top wicket taker this year as well having the third most runs. The
Bangladeshi skipper also brings his wealth of experience of playing all around the world to hopefully
lead this Bangladesh side to glory at this edition of the World cup. Interesting to note he was also
part of the side that beat England back in 2015.
England: Ben Stokes – He made a return to One day cricket for this tournament after retiring from
the format last year. He has been instrumental to England’s success being named player of the
match in both the 2019 final and the T20 final last year. He has been England’s hero on countless
occasions and will be hoping to do the same this year. It will be interesting to see how his body holds
up over the tournament as a pre-existing knee injury has already limited Stokes’ role in the side to
that of just a batter.
India: Shubman Gill- Ultimately winning cricket games is about scoring runs and Gill does that in
abundance. Nearly twice as many runs than his next closest compatriot in the last year which
showcases his importance to India building a big score. He was the leading run scorer at the Asia cup
last month and will be looking to cement his place as one of the world’s best by doing the same at
this tournament. The elegant right-handed batter will be a big scalp for any side that can remove
him early.
Netherlands: Scott Edwards – The captain of this Netherlands side is a keeper-batter who provides
much needed middle order stability to this lineup. He impressed in England’s tour of the Netherlands
last year as he scored a fifty in every game of the three-match series. Edwards was vital to
Netherland’s qualification as he produced a number of vital innings. His run scoring, keeping and
captaincy will be critical if Netherlands want to cause any upsets at this tournament.
New Zealand: Trent Boult – The experienced Left arm seamer is key to New Zealand’s success in all
forms of cricket as his use of swing and seam are crucial to taking early wickets for the Kiwis. After
being released from his central contract last summer Boult made a return to the side for the England
series after playing in various franchise tournaments around the world including the inaugural Major
League Cricket where he finished as the top wicket taker. He’ll be looking to do the same at this
tournament and bowl New Zealand to the trophy this time around.
Pakistan: Shaheen Shah Afridi – Pakistan were dealt the big blow of losing Naseem Shah to injury
just before the tournament and this only places more pressure onto Afridi to lead the attack and
take early wickets. The skilful Left arm bowler is one of the best in the world and specialises in taking
wickets in the first 10 overs which will be vital for Pakistan to limit opposing teams to smaller scores.
Shaheen had a successful Asia Cup campaign in the build up to this tournament taking 10 wickets in
the 5 matches he played.
South Africa: David Miller – The powerful left hander is one of the most destructive batters in the
world and has the game changing ability to up the scoring rate at will. He’s scored some vital runs
over the years including a brilliant hundred at the 2015 World Cup. Miller will be key to the Proteas
finishing innings strong both when chasing big totals and trying to set an imposing score, as his
power and destruction make him difficult for any bowler to bowl at.
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka – The right-handed batter opens for Sri Lanka and is key to their hopes
for building a big score. Whilst he struggled for form in the Asia cup, he was vital in Sri Lanka’s
qualification scoring two valuable hundreds in Zimbabwe earlier this year. He also has a century
against Australia to his name showing he’s capable of scoring runs against the world’s best and he’ll
be hoping to showcase similar shot-making and run scoring prowess in this tournament to fire Sri
Lanka to glory.
by Daniel Sampson