New Delhi. There is a general belief that T20 cricket suits more energetic young players. The reason for this is that the game of this format is very ‘fast-paced’ which requires tremendous fitness and reflexes for ‘running between the wicket’ and fielding. To some extent this is true, but older players with sports skills have also shown success in this format. In the group matches of T20 World Cup 2024, amidst the strong performance of youngsters like Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Nicholas Pooran, Fazalhaq Farooqui, Arshdeep Singh and Tanzeem Hasan Shakib, some older players have also managed to shine.
Many of these ‘elderly’ players will also be seen playing in the Super 8 round of the tournament. In the current World Cup, the older players who have made a special impact on their game include David Warner of Australia, Tim Southee of New Zealand, Tim Benrington of Scotland, Andre Russell of West Indies and Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh. Out of this, the teams of Warner, Shakib and Russell have made it to the last eight.
Warner has the highest strike rate in the innings.
37 year old David Warner is playing for the last time in T20 World Cup 2024. Warner, who has retired from Test and ODI formats, will completely say goodbye to international cricket after this tournament. In such a situation, he is leaving no stone unturned to make his last tournament memorable. Left-handed batsman Warner keeps the score board moving by playing aggressive shots. The highest strike rate in an innings in the current tournament is in his name. In the group match against England, Warner played a brilliant inning of 39 runs (strike rate 243.75) in just 16 balls with the help of two fours and four sixes. This is the highest strike rate in an innings of this edition. Warner’s batting performance in the tournament has also been good, so far he has scored 116 runs in four matches at an average of 29 and strike rate of 146.83, which includes one half-century.
Saudi has the best economy in bowling
If Warner is effective in batting, then in bowling, New Zealand’s Tim Southee left an impression by bowling the most miserly in the group matches. Unfortunately, Saudi will not be seen in the further matches of the tournament because the Kiwi team could not reach the Super 8. In three matches of the group stage, Saudi took 7 wickets for 36 runs while keeping one maiden in his quota of 12 overs. His strike rate was 3.00. Saudi was not a part of the playing XI in the New Zealand team’s preliminary match against Afghanistan. New Zealand’s Indian-origin player Rachin Ravindra also has a strike rate of 3.00, similar to Saudi’s, but he has bowled only 3 overs in three matches. Rachin took two wickets for 9 runs in three overs.
VIDEO: Fazal Haq told Rashid – Shutup, Arshdeep’s celebration and.. interesting incidents of T20 WC
43 year old Subuga’s record broken in 12 days, 33 year old Ferguson’s record broken
The record of best economy in an innings in the T20 World Cup was made by 43-year-old off-break bowler Frank Nsubuga of Uganda on 17 June. In the match against Papua New Guinea, he took 2 wickets for 4 runs (economy 2.00) in four overs with two maidens. However, Subuga’s record of best economy in an innings was broken within 12 days. 33-year-old Lockie Ferguson of New Zealand took three wickets while keeping all four overs of his quota maiden (economy 0.00) in the match against Papua New Guinea. This is the best economy spell of the T20 World Cup so far.
Berrington is second in batting average.
In this group of older players, Scotland’s Richie Berrington’s batting did not receive much praise but his contribution was also no less. The reason for this was Scotland not being a full member of ICC and its cricket not getting much attention. 37-year-old Barrington remained unbeaten twice and scored 102 runs (average 102.00) in three innings of 4 matches. In terms of batting average in the group round, Barrington finished second after America’s Aaron Jones (141.00). Berrington has scored 389 runs in 18 matches of four T20 World Cups at an average of 32.41. Scotland team has not been able to make a place in the Super.
T20 World Cup: Never lost to Afghanistan, but this time 5 Afghan players can spoil the game
Bolt, Shakib and Russell are also shining
New Zealand’s Trent Boult, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and West Indies’ Andre Russell have also proved that age is just a number by performing well in the tournament. 34 year old left arm bowler Boult has announced his retirement after this World Cup. He bid farewell to international cricket by taking 9 wickets in 4 matches at an average of 6.55 and economy of 3.68. 37-year-old Shakib, who has been a part of the T20 World Cup since 2007, has scored 92 runs in 4 matches at an average of 30.66, which includes one half-century. During this period he has also taken 2 wickets. Similarly, 36-year-old Andre Russell of the host Indies team has remained unbeaten thrice in four matches and has scored only 62 runs at an average of 62 and has taken 5 wickets at an average of 14.00.
Talking about Team India, two of its three experienced players, 35-year-old Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, have not been able to live up to the expectations in the group stage. Kohli has scored a total of 5 runs in three matches whereas Jaddu’s account of runs and wickets has not been opened yet. The performance of 37 year old Rohit Sharma has also not reached the heights yet. After scoring unbeaten 52 runs in the first match against Ireland, he was able to score only 13 and 3 runs in the next two innings. Fans are expecting good performance from these star players in the Super 8 round. (*Statistics up to group matches)
Tags: Andrew Russell, david warner, ICC T20 World Cup, Shakib Al Hasan, T20 World Cup, Tim Southee
FIRST PUBLISHED: June 20, 2024, 11:39 IST
