As the T20 World Cup 2022 approaches, fans and experts are revealing their players to watch out for at the mega-event that will take place in Australia from October 16 to November 13.
The latest among the former cricketers to share his top 5 T20I cricketers in the world ahead of the T20 World Cup is legendary Australia batsman Mark Waugh.
Mark Waugh picks an Indian fast bowler in his top 5 T20I cricketers
It is quite an elite list of players that Mark Waugh picked as his top 5 T20I cricketers in the world. However, to the surprise of many, none of the elegant, classy, IPL multi-millionaire Indian batsmen found a place on ‘Junior’ Waugh’s list. Instead, Indian spearhead pacer Jasprit Bumrah is the only Indian among the five cricketers.
Mark Waugh named India’s Jasprit Bumrah, Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan along with England’s Jos Buttler and Australia’s Glenn Maxwell, as his best 5 T20I players in the world.
None of India’s batting stalwarts – whether Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli or Suryakumar Yadav – interestest Mark Waugh as Bumrah did. It is also a testament to Bumrah’s incredible success and him being one of the premier all-format pacer in the world that attracted Mark Waugh.
Speaking to ICC, Waugh said, “I think he’s a fantastic bowler in all formats, actually. His ability to get wickets in T20 cricket is key. He can bowl at the death and he can bowl up front.”
Waugh hailed 22-year-old Shaheen Afridi as a “great” new ball seamer already. “To open the bowling at the other end we’ll go with another great opening bowler, Shaheen Afridi from Pakistan, who is a tremendous left-arm fast bowler. He’s a wicket-taker. He sort of lifts the team. He’s a guy that other players follow,” he said.
“He is a left-armer so that’s another point of difference. He can swing the ball back into the right-hander, he’s quick as well, so I’ve got him number two.”
Waugh reckoned Rashid Khan is a 4-over bank in T20 cricket.
“In all competitions he plays in, he’s just the one guy who you know is going to bowl four overs. He’ll probably get two or three wickets and go for 20 runs, and he can bat. He can also whack the ball over the fence,” he said.
The 57-year-old reserved high praise for Buttler and hailed the England skipper as arguably the best T20 batsman in the world.
“I think he’s probably the number one batsman in world cricket in the T20 format. He’s just a clean striker of the ball. We’ve seen him in all tournaments; he just looks on a different level to other players,” Waugh added.
And finally, eulogising his compatriot all-rounder Maxwell, Waugh opined: “Glenn Maxwell is the sort of player that can win you a game in the field and with the bat. With the ball, he’s probably underrated. And I think if he bats 30 balls, he’ll win you the game. So I think Maxwell, even though he’s just not a consistent player, he’s that X-factor that can win your game on any given day.”
Who are your top 5 players to watch out for at the T20 World Cup 2022? Let us know.
