With a riveting Indian Premier League season done and dusted, attention now moves to the T20 World Cup. It is the first time that 20 teams will compete with the showpiece event, each coming in with a point to prove.
In this article, we will look at the possible starting XIs for all the sides in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Of course, they are conditions dependent, with a number of fantastic spinners on show.
A look at the possible XIs for all sides in the 2024 T20 World Cup
Afghanistan
1. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2. Ibrahim Zadran, 3. Najibullah Zadran, 4. Azmatullah Omarzai, 5. Mohammad Nabi, 6. Gulbadin Naib, 7. Karim Janat, 8. Rashid Khan (c), 9. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10. Naveen-ul-Haq, 11. Fazalhaq Farooqi
Afghanistan have a number of all-rounders in their squad. It gives them a number of both pace and spin bowling options. As a result, they could choose to play Noor Ahmad over one of the seam-bowling all-rounders if conditions suit.
Australia
1. David Warner, 2. Travis Head, 3. Mitch Marsh (c), 4. Glenn Maxwell, 5. Marcus Stoinis, 6. Matthew Wade (wk), 7. Tim David, 8. Pat Cummins, 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Adam Zampa, 11. Josh Hazlewood
Australia’s XI against Oman could depend on conditions. There is the option of playing Ashton Agar over one of the specialist fast bowlers. Also, Matt Wade could be preferred over Josh Inglis because of the left-handed option in the middle.
Bangladesh
1. Tanzid Hasan, 2. Soumya Sarkar, 3. Litton Das (wk), 4. Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), 5. Shakib Al Hasan, 6. Towhid Hridoy, 7. Mahmudullah, 8. Mahedi Hasan, 9. Taskin Ahmed, 10. Mustafizur Rahman, 11. Rishad Hossain
Bangladesh, fresh off a 2-1 series defeat to 19th-ranked USA, will be seeking to get their combination right. They may look for a deeper batting lineup to aim for bigger scores. Legspinner Rishad Hossain gives their attack a point of difference.
Canada
1. Aaron Johnson, 2. Dilpreet Bajwa, 3. Pargat Singh, 4. Harsh Thaker, 5. Nicholas Kirton, 6. Shreyas Movva (wk), 7. Saan Bin Zafar (c), 8. Nikhil Dutta, 9. Dilon Heyliger, 10. Rishiv Joshi, 11. Jeremy Gordon
Canada will play in their first ever T20 World Cup. They have a number of all-rounders who will form part of their middle order. A good start against USA will be key.
England
1. Phil Salt, 2. Jos Buttler (c & wk), 3. Will Jacks, 4. Jonny Bairstow, 5. Harry Brook, 6. Moeen Ali, 7. Liam Livingstone, 8. Chris Jordan, 9. Jofra Archer, 10. Adil Rashid, 11. Reece Topley
Defending champions England are power-packed. Jofra Archer is also back and was in the wickets in the T20I series against Pakistan. In terms of the make up of their team, conditions may dictate if they wish to choose Sam Curran.
India
1. Rohit Sharma (c), 2. Virat Kohli, 3. Sanju Samson (wk), 4. Suryakumar Yadav, 5. Shivam Dube, 6. Hardik Pandya, 7. Ravindra Jadeja, 8. Axar Patel, 9. Kuldeep Yadav, 10. Jasprit Bumrah, 11. Mohammed Siraj
There is a lot of conjecture around India’s team. They may opt for Rohit and Virat to open to ensure their best spin-hitters are batting in the middle overs. Also, Axar Patel is an option if India wish to lengthen their batting, which means Yuzvendra Chahal may miss out.
Ireland
1. Andy Balbirnie, 2. Paul Stirling (c), 3. Harry Tector, 4. Lorcan Tucker (wk), 5. Curtis Campher, 6. George Dockrell, 7. Gareth Delany, 8. Mark Adair, 9. Barry McCarthy, 10. Josh Little, 11. Ben White
Ireland have a host of familiar faces as they aim to challenge India and Pakistan in Group A. They have spin options in Ben White, Gareth Delany and George Dockrell.
Namibia
1. JP Kotze, 2. Malan Kruger, 3. Gerhard Erasmus (c), 4. Michael van Lingen, 5. Jan Frylinck, 6. David Wiese, 7. JJ Smit, 8. Zane Green (wk), 9. Bernard Scholtz, 10. Ben Shikongo, 11. Ruben Trumpelmann
JP Kotze came out of retirement in 2022 and should open for the Namibians. They have shown lots of promising signs in recent years and will be keen to test themselves in their group consisting of Australia, England, Oman, and Scotland.
Nepal
1. Kushal Bhurtel, 2. Aasif Sheikh (wk), 3. Rohit Paudel (c), 4. Anil Sah, 5. Kushal Malla, 6. Dipendra Singh Airee, 7. Karan KC, 8. Abinash Bohara, 9. Pratis GC, 10. Sompal Kami, 11. Sagar Dhakal
Nepal competed hard against West Indies A in a recent five-match series. They’ll have a number of bowling options to turn to, with the likes of Kushal Bhurtel and Rohit Paudel crucial with the bat.
Netherlands
1. Michael Levitt, 2. Max O’Dowd, 3. Vikramjit Singh, 4. Bas de Leede, 5. Scott Edwards (c & wk), 6. Wesley Barressi, 7. Logan van Beek, 8. Teja Nidamanuru, 9. Aryan Dutt, 10. Paul van Meekeren, 11. Vivian Kingma
The Dutch are in the group of death involving South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. They are capable of qualifying, so getting their XI right will be vital with no Colin Ackermann or Roelof van der Merwe due to County commitments.
New Zealand
1. Finn Allen, 2. Devon Conway (wk), 3. Kane Williamson (c), 4. Daryl Mitchell, 5. Rachin Ravindra, 6. Glenn Phillips, 7. James Neesham, 8. Mitchell Santner, 9. Tim Southee, 10. Ish Sodhi, 11. Trent Boult
New Zealand have a number of options, especially in the middle order. At least two of Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Rachin Ravindra and James Neesham could miss out on the first playing XI. Also, Trent Boult is in the squad.
Oman
1. Kashyap Prajapati, 2. Naseem Khushi, 3. Aqib Ilyas (c), 4. Zeeshan Maqsood, 5. Khalid Kail, 6. Ayaan Khan, 7. Pratik Athavale (wk), 8. Rafiullah, 9. Shakeel Ahmed, 10. Fayyaz Butt, 11. Bilal Khan
Oman have experienced batters, with their top four expected to do lots of the work. Bilal Khan is their key bowler, with the equal-most T20I wickets for Oman along with skipper Aqib Ilyas (35).
Pakistan
1. Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2. Saim Ayub, 3. Babar Azam (c), 4. Fakhar Zaman, 5. Shadab Khan, 6. Azam Khan (wk), 7. Iftikhar Ahmed, 8. Imad Wasim, 9. Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10. Mohammad Amir, 11. Naseem Shah
Pakistan are continuing to persist with Babar Azam at three. It will be interesting to see if they opt to partner the captain with Rizwan at the top. Expect the likes of Fakhar, Shadab, Azam Khan and Iftikhar to be tasked with providing impact in the middle.
Papua New Guinea
1. Tony Ura, 2. Lega Siaka, 3. Sese Bau, 4. Assad Vala (c), 5. Charles Amini, 6. Kiplin Doriga (wk), 7. Norman Vanua, 8. Chad Soper, 9. Semo Kamea, 10. John Kariko, 11. Jack Gardner
PNG return to the T20 World Cup after their appearance in 2021. Experienced players Tony Ura, Assad Vala and Charles Amini have key roles to play. Watch out for left-arm seamer Semo Kamea.
Scotland
1. George Munsey, 2. Brandon McMullen, 3. Michael Jones, 4. Richie Berrington (c), 5. Matthew Cross (wk), 6. Michael Leask, 7. Chris Greaves, 8. Mark Watt, 9. Chris Sole, 10. Safyaan Sharif, 11. Bradley Currie
Brandon McMullen, who impressed in last year’s ODI World Cup Qualifier tournament, could open the batting. He can also contribute with his right-arm seam. Scotland look to have a balanced attack as well with Michael Leask, Chris Greaves and Mark Watt taking up the spin duties.
South Africa
1. Quinton de Kock (wk), 2. Reeza Hendricks, 3. Aiden Markram (c), 4. Tristan Stubbs, 5. Heinrich Klaasen, 6. David Miller, 7. Marco Jansen, 8. Keshav Maharaj, 9. Kagiso Rabada, 10. Gerald Coetzee, 11. Tabraiz Shamsi
The Proteas will likely have to choose between Ryan Rickelton and Reeza Hendricks up top. Despite Quinton de Kock’s indifferent form, they are likely to stick with him. Also, conditions will dictate whether they play two specialist spinners with Markram also capable of bowling.
Sri Lanka
1. Pathum Nissanka, 2. Kusal Mendis (wk), 3. Sadeera Samarawickrama, 4. Charith Asalanka, 5. Dhananjaya de Silva, 6. Dasun Shanaka, 7. Wanindu Hasaranga (c), 8. Maheesh Theekshana, 9. Dushmantha Chameera, 10. Dilshan Madushanka, 11. Matheesha Pathirana
Sri Lanka have a plethora of bowling options, making them one of the teams to watch in this tournament. They could have a choice to make regarding how they get the talented Kamindu Mendis in the XI.
Uganda
1. Simon Ssesazi, 2. Roger Mukasa, 3. Robinson Obuya, 4. Dinesh Nakrani, 5. Alpesh Ramjani, 6. Kenneth Waiswa, 7. Fred Achelam (wk), 8. Cosmas Kyewuta, 9. Henry Ssenyondo, 10. Brian Masaba (c), 11. Bilal Hassan
Uganda made history by qualifying to the T20 World Cup for the first time. Along the way, they beat Zimbabwe in a huge coup. Roger Musaka (927) is their top run-scorer, while all-rounder Alpesh Ramjani has their most wickets (65) at a stunning average of 8.40. He also has 469 T20I runs.
United States of America
1. Steven Taylor, 2. Monank Patel (c & wk), 3. Andries Gous, 4. Aaron Jones, 5. Corey Anderson, 6. Harmeet Singh, 7. Nitish Kumar, 8. Shadley van Schalkwyk, 9. Jasdeep Singh, 10. Ali Khan, 11. Saurabh Netravalkar
Fresh off a memorable 2-1 series win over Bangladesh, USA will be feeling confident. Corey Anderson and Harmeet Singh will be key in the finishing department, while the bowling attack has a mix of experience and variety.
West Indies
1. Brandon King, 2. Johnson Charles, 3. Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4. Shimron Hetmyer, 5. Rovman Powell (c), 6. Andre Russell, 7. Romario Shepherd, 8. Akeal Hosein, 9. Alzarri Joseph, 10. Shamar Joseph, 11. Gudakesh Motie
West Indies have plenty of talent, with a number of quality players to come into the XI after the 3-0 series win over South Africa. They are likely to play two specialist spinners with Andre Russell and potentially Romario Shepherd handling extra seam-bowling duties.
