As the cricketing world gears up for the highly anticipated T20 World Cup 2024, all eyes sharply converge upon Pakistan, a team with a storied history in the shortest format of the game. Since clinching the title in 2009, the ‘Men in Green’ have been on a relentless quest to reclaim the coveted trophy once again, even coming agonizingly close in the previous edition only to falter in the final showdown at the hands of England.
Under the dynamic leadership of Babar Azam, the present Pakistan cricket team radiates a formidable aura, blending seasoned veterans with emerging talents. The recently concluded PSL 2024 season and pivotal T20Is against Ireland and England serve as crucial litmus tests, shaping their prospects for the impending global showdown. Here at CricToday, we delve into the realm of Pakistani cricket to pinpoint five players poised to leave an indelible mark on the 2024 T20 World Cup stage.
1. Babar Azam
Pakistan skipper and prolific opener Babar Azam led his nation into the final of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, where they lost out to an insurgent English unit. He also became the first and only Pakistani captain to date to defeat India in a World Cup game, doing so by ravaging the ‘Men in Blue’ with a 10-wicket margin back in 2021. The cricketer himself scored an imperial 52-ball 68* in the match and topped the run-scoring race of the tournament with over 300 runs.
Furthermore, Babar’s T20I stats place him at the top of the run-scoring pile among all Pakistani batters, considering the legendary right-hander has tallied nearly 4,000 runs at a splendid average of 41.10.
While the cricketer relinquished his all-format captaincy role after the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, the PCB fast-tracked him back as the team’s leader in lieu of the impending T20I carnival. The decision laid out by the upper Pakistan cricket management perfectly signifies his underlying significance for the nation’s T20 World Cup prospects.
2. Shaheen Afridi
Pakistan’s new-ball pace merchant Shaheen Afridi swung both ways against New Zealand at home in April and finished the PSL 2024 season with 14 scalps for Lahore Qalandars. The 24-year-old was also presented the mantle of Pakistan’s T20I captaincy for a tour before the command was handed back to Babar Azam earlier this year.
So far, in his two T20 World Cup editions, Shaheen has picked up 18 wickets, which also features a history-inducing match-winning spell of 3-31 against India during the 2021 tourney in UAE.
A veteran of nearly 200 T20 matches, including more than 60 internationals, the left-arm quick will once again be expected to facilitate Pakistan’s pace attack, thus starting out as one of their critical exponents at the forthcoming 20-team event.
3. Mohammad Rizwan
After missing a few T20Is against New Zealand, Pakistan’s ace wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan was called back into the national setup for pre-T20 World Cup tours of Ireland and England. With nearly 100 T20I caps to his name, Rizwan starts out as one of the senior-most members of the Pakistan cricket team alongside captain and premier batter Babar Azam.
The 32-year-old was Babar’s partner-in-crime when Pakistan pulled off their historic 10-wicket win over arch-rivals India in 2021 and also scored crucial runs during his team’s runners-up crusade in Australia in 2022.
Known for conquering the most intimidating of opponents at the grandest of stages, the cricketer has already tallied more than 450 runs in just 13 T20 World Cup innings at an average of over 41. Much like captain Babar, Rizwan’s batting form might well determine Pakistan’s fate at the 2024 event on the slow surfaces of the West Indies and the USA.
4. Iftikhar Ahmed
While Iftikhar Ahmed failed to light up the stage at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, his batting style and all-round dexterity will surely come in handy for Pakistan in West Indies and USA playing conditions. With a penchant for big shots, especially in the death overs of limited-overs matches, Ahmed boasts of a T20 strike rate of over 131.
During the recently concluded PSL 2024, Pakistan’s ultimate training ground for the T20 World Cup, Ahmed rehearsed by smacking 17 sixes and 23 boundaries as part of his 259-run tally from just 11 innings. The hard-hitting radical flogged his runs at a strike rate of 193.28, which marked the highest among all batters with more than 100 runs in the season.
Ahmed’s part-time off-breaks are also something not to be trifled with, considering the all-rounder holds the capacity to make timely breakthroughs at critical junctures of the game.
5. Fakhar Zaman
Fakhar Zaman’s T20 strike rate of nearly 135 as a top-order batter makes him one of Pakistan’s most exciting prospects for 2024 T20 World Cup success. The dynamic southpaw played a significant hand in Pakistan’s previous ICC title win when he pummelled Indian bowlers with a scintillating century at the 2017 Champions Trophy final.
Since then, the cricketer has gone on to become one of the linchpins of Pakistan’s top order through his belligerent ball-striking abilities. With the experience of playing PSL 2024 and T20Is against New Zealand and Ireland just before the World Cup, a fully-tuned Fakhar will once again be expected to crack a few big hits across the small boundaries of West Indies and USA as Pakistan gears up for the world challenge.