KIT SHEPARD takes a look at a selection of players who might not be household names but could make a major impression at the tournament
Pitches, absentees and upsets: What to look out for when the T20 World Cup kicks off
Men's T20 World Cup 2021: All you need to know
Men's T20 World Cup 2021 team guides
Only Aaron Finch made a bigger score in a T20I. Nobody has made a faster T20 fifty. Very few others have hit six sixes in an over. Hazratullah Zazai, Afghanistan’s hard-hitting opener, knows how to make history.
Since smashing Ireland for 74 and 82 in his second and third T20Is, Zazai has threatened at international level. The left-hander favours brawn over finesse, with his uncomplicated style predicated on standing tall, clearing the front leg and swinging hard. Not one for deft scoops, his sensational, unbeaten 162 off 66 balls against Ireland in 2019 displayed the best of his bludgeoning style.
A strike-rate of 155.61 illustrates his power, but an average above 40 indicates that he is not a mindless slogger. In a side famed for their bowling, Zazai could be key in a tournament where their battery of spinners will always offer them a chance.
Oman, who have not played a T20I since February 2020, possess a veteran-laden World Cup squad boasting enough pre-pandemic experience to mitigate their minimal match preparation.
Captain Zeeshan Maqsood adheres to this description. A regular in Oman’s middle order for some time, the 33-year-old provides a steady presence with the bat, while his left-arm spin makes him a useful bowling option, especially in home conditions.
Maqsood can deliver on the big stage. At the World T20 in 2016, his stunning, one-handed grab against Ireland was the catch of the tournament. In the same game, he top-scored as Oman pulled off an upset against then-associate members who have since gained Test status.
Hayden Walsh Jr
Hayden Walsh Jr. is the only wrist-spinner in the Windies squad. With worn, IPL-softened pitches awaiting him, he could carry huge responsibility, especially following the confirmation of Sunil Narine’s exclusion on fitness grounds.
Walsh Jr played eight T20Is for USA before switching allegiances in 2019 through his Antiguan heritage. In taking 12 wickets in five T20Is against Australia, he averaged just 11.67. In the 15 other T20Is in which he has bowled, the 29-year-old has taken just 11 wickets at 31.63 apiece.
If the champions are to defend their crown – a title in no small part earned by the leggies of Samuel Badree – they might need Walsh Jr. to prove that the Australia series was the rule, not the exception.
Dubbed 'Supervan', Norman Vanua fits the hero’s bill. Back in October 2019, he hit 54 against Kenya to drag Papua New Guinea to 118, before taking 2 for 19 in a 45-run win that secured his nation a spot at their first T20 World Cup.
Vanua’s accurate seam bowling has yielded 35 T20I wickets, while his economy rate is a smidgeon over a run-a-ball. With the bat, his hefty blows lower down the order have decided matches on multiple occasions.
Vanua is the sort of do-it-all cricketer craved for in T20, and he embodies how the Barramundis are not merely here to make up numbers.
A bowler capable of destructive batting, Singh has made the spot as Ireland’s principal off-spinner his own. With the bat, an unbeaten ODI century against a South African attack featuring Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi in July highlighted the depth he adds to Ireland’s line-up.
Born in India, Singh qualified for Ireland after moving to the country at 18 in 2006. Fifteen years later, he is among the first names on Graham Ford’s teamsheet.
In a group with Sri Lanka, Ireland and Netherlands, Namibia are perhaps unfancied for a slot in the Super 12 stage. Yet, with Johannes Jonathan Smit in their ranks, the improbable is not impossible.
The left-arm seamer has bowled in just 13 T20I innings, but his 19 wickets at 16.31 apiece and an economy of 6.30 are markers of a gifted quick.
He can also score quickly. Again, small-sample-size-caveat aside, his average of 33 and strike rate of 155.79 suggest this year’s stint batting as high as No.4 for the Eagles was well-earned.
His talent holds up under pressure - he was named as player of the tournament in the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division 2: that competition ended with Namibia clinching ODI status. Can Smit inspire more success in the UAE?
Despite never featuring in any previous Australia squad, Josh Inglis could be ignored no longer.
After finishing among the top 10 run-scorers in the last two Big Bash tournaments, Leeds-born Inglis enjoyed a breakthrough 2021 English summer, opening for Leicestershire. He was the Vitality Blast’s leading scorer (531 runs at 48.27 with a strike rate of 175.82), even though the Foxes did not make the knockout stages.
He was rewarded with a Hundred gig, where he hit two half-centuries for the Spirit. Equally, a string of low scores in both competitions are a warning that Inglis can produce famine as well as feast.
The 26-year-old, who can also keep wicket, is unlikely to break up Aaron Finch and David Warner’s long-standing opening partnership, though Australia still seem unsure of their best team. Warner, certainly, has not been at his best in the shortest format for a while. Unfamiliar to many bowlers and unburdened by the internal tension that has been reported around Justin Langer’s side over the past year, a newcomer could be the answer.
Back-to-back 4-1 home series victories over Australia and New Zealand earlier this year displayed how potent Bangladesh can be in the low-scoring games that could define the World Cup.
While miserly bowling is pivotal in such contests, one obdurate batter can make the difference. For Bangladesh, it won’t be Tamim Iqbal. However, Mohammad Naim, another left-handed opener, could fill the void left by the national legend.
Naim, 22, played every match against the Antipodean nations, notching six scores above 20. That may seem unimpressive, but in 10 games where the average first innings team total was just 119, these knocks were precious, even at a career T20I strike-rate of 105.94.
The aim for Naim at his first global tournament? With only two half-centuries in 22 T20I innings, it is time to turn those starts into 50s and 60s. If he can make that leap, he will shift from a bright, post-Tamim prospect to a bona fide matchwinner.
Josh Inglis
A right-arm quick comfortable bowling in the powerplay and at the death, Wheal is a familiar name to county fans.
The Durban-born Scotsman took 17 wickets at 20.82 for Hampshire in last summer’s Vitality Blast. Meanwhile, nine wickets in three matches for London Spirit showed that Wheal, who has only six T20I caps, can adapt to unfamiliar surroundings.
He bowls at a good speed and is fairly accurate, though he missed his yorkers in Hampshire’s Blast semi-final defeat against Somerset as his side lost from what looked like a winning position. It will be interesting to see if he varies his pace and length more after a strong summer that ended with a rare low.
Philippe Boissevain does not immediately stand out in a Netherlands squad generously smattered with county-based seamers and experienced stalwarts. He is, however, their only frontline wrist-spinner.
Six wickets in seven T20Is and an economy rate of 8.62 are not exactly earth-shattering, but he will be flanked by finger-spinners Roelof van der Merwe, Colin Ackermann and Pieter Seelaar. The trio are reliable, experienced campaigners, taking some of the pressure off the shoulders of Boissevain, who is still only 20.
He turns 21 on the day of Netherlands’ opening match against Ireland. Whether he celebrates in style or is the one giving away gifts may decide this vital encounter.
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