The eighth edition of the ICC T20 World Cup is less than a week away. The tournament, which will be played in Australia, will begin with the preliminary round on October 16 and the Super 12 round will start on October 22 with the final slated for November 13 at the iconic MCG.
This year’s ICC T20 World Cup promises to be an exciting one as the pitches, conditions and boundary sizes in Australia will have something for everyone – batters, pacers and spinners. So you may expect a few records of the past T20 World Cups to be broken.
Here are 3 records in ICC T20 World Cup history which could be broken this year:
Most Runs in ICC T20 World Cup History:
Former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene holds the record for most runs in T20 World Cup history – 1016 runs in 31 innings at an average of 39. Chris Gayle (965 runs in 31 innings at 34) is second, while T Dilshan is third with 897 runs.
Following them is the Indian superstar duo of Rohit Sharma (847 runs in 30 innings at 38) and Virat Kohli (845 runs in only 19 innings at an astonishing average of 76!). Australia’s David Warner, who will be playing in home conditions, is behind them with 762 runs in 30 innings.
All three – Rohit, Kohli and Warner – bat in the top order and are in form is crucial to their team’s chances of going deep in the tournament. If not Warner, there is a good chance that both Rohit and Kohli would surpass Jayawardene’s record.
Highest Individual Score in ICC T20 World Cup:
Swashbuckling former New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum holds the record of the highest score in T20 World Cup history – he smashed 123 runs off 58 balls in Pallekele against Bangladesh in the 2012 T20 World Cup.
This year’s T20 World Cup is filled with power-hitters who would size down McCullum’s 123-run record; Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, David Warner, KL Rahul, Martin Guptill, Quinton de Kock are some of the contenders to romp down McCullum’s record; Buttler and Hales already have a century each to their names in T20 World Cup and both are in sizzling form.
Most five wicket-hauls by a bowler in ICC T20 World Cup:
Across the 7 editions of the T20 World Cup, there have been 9 five-wicket hauls taken, but no bowler has done it twice. Three bowlers among these nine – Mustafizur Rahman, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Adam Zampa – will be in action at the tournament in Australia.
Given the pacy and bouncy pitches and the large ground sizes in Australia, these three would eye another five-wicket haul and other bowlers too would want to get themselves in this elusive list.
