The pitches at UAE and Oman were fairly irregular. Some even mentioned that a few of those tracks were not fit for T20 cricket. Hence, the batsmen had to apply themselves before making an impact. If you take a look at the teams that did well, they had a pattern of consistently performing batsmen. In this article, we take a look at the top five batsmen of the T20 World Cup 2021.
1) Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Matches: 6 || Runs: 303 || Average: 60.60 || Strike Rate: 126.25
Babar Azam leads this list of the top five batsmen of the T20 World Cup 2021. Before the tournament started, Babar was on every list of predictions on who will end up as the highest scoring batsmen of T20 WC. The Pakistan skipper did just that.
As has been the trend, he controlled the pace of the Pakistan innings in every game. He looked comfortable against a difficult opposition like India and ended up with four fifties from the competition. Babar scored a total of 28 boundaries and five sixes in the 2021 T20 WC.
2) David Warner (Australia)
Matches: 7 || Runs: 289 || Average: 48.16 || Strike Rate: 146.70
Before the T20 WC started, David Warner was undergoing a rough patch. He did not play a lot of games in IPL and many even questioned his position in the Aussie batting line-up. However, cut to the end of the event, Warner finished as the second-highest run-getter and also clinched the Player of the Tournament trophy.
The opener’s best contribution was his display in the crucial games. In the must-win game against West Indies, he scored 89*, while in the semis and the finals respectively, he made 49 and 53 runs. Especially in the finals, it was his knock that helped Australia stabilize after the loss of an early wicket.
3) Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
Matches: 6 || Runs: 281 || Average: 70.25 || Strike Rate: 127.72
Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam had forged a wonderful opening partnership before the event started. Many were interested to see if that would remain intact against tougher opposition at the T20 WC. There were a lot of doubts if Rizwan could do well at a high-profile competition.
Starting from the game against India to his knock in the semi-finals against Australia, Rizwan showed composure and quality skillsets to prove that he belongs to this level. He scored three fifties and helped Pakistan not suffer a collapse when Babar had a difficult game.
4) Jos Buttler (England)
Matches: 6 || Runs: 269 || Average: 89.66 || Strike Rate: 151.12
Jos Buttler yet again reiterated his popularity as the best white-ball hitter in the game right now. Most of the other English batters had inconsistent outings, but Jos had a memorable campaign at the T20 World Cup.
Although he started slowly, the wicket-keeper batsman scored 71* off 32 balls against Australia before making a brilliant century against Sri Lanka to set the ball rolling in the event. Had he repeated such a performance in the semis, England might have cruised to the summit clash.
5) Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka)
Matches: 6 || Runs: 231 || Average: 46.20 || Strike Rate: 147.13
Charith Asalanka stands at No.5 on this list of top five batsmen of the T20 World Cup 2021. The youngster had played just three games for Sri Lanka before the tournament started. Yet, he ended up as the highest run-getter for his nation. This is despite him playing at No.3 unlike the other men on the list who opened the innings.
Asalanka’s best knock was against Bangladesh. He made a stunning 80* off just 49 deliveries and helped his side chase down a total of 172. The Sri Lankan then followed it up with decent cameos in the next three games before finishing the event with a 68 against West Indies.
