With the cricket world preparing for the much awaited T20 World Cup 2024, Pakistan—a team with a legendary history in the game’s shortest format—will be under intense scrutiny. Ever since winning the title in 2009, the “Men in Green” have been determined to win the trophy back. They even came dangerously close to winning the previous edition, losing to England in the championship match.
The current Pakistan cricket team, led by the charismatic Babar Azam, exudes a formidable aura as it combines seasoned veterans with up-and-coming talent. Critical T20I matches against England and Ireland, as well as the recently finished PSL 2024 season, act as critical benchmarks that will determine how they fare in the approaching world cup. Here at CricToday, we examine Pakistani cricket to identify five players who are positioned to make a lasting impression at the 2024 T20 World Cup.
1. Babar Azam
Pakistan’s captain and top scorer, Babar Azam, guided his team to the 2022 T20 World Cup final in Australia, where they were defeated by a rebellious English team. In 2021, he also made history by becoming the first and only captain of Pakistan to ever win a World Cup match. He did this by thrashing the “Men in Blue” by a 10-wicket margin. With an impressive 52-ball 68* in the match, the cricket player himself won the run-scoring competition with more than 300 runs.
In addition, Babar leads all Pakistani batters in run scoring with his T20I stats, as the illustrious right-hander has amassed nearly 4,000 runs at an incredible average of 41.10.
The batsman gave resigned his position as captain of the country for all formats following the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, but the PCB quickly reinstated him as captain for the upcoming T20I tournament. The decision made by Pakistan’s cricket management at the top clearly demonstrates his fundamental importance to the country’s chances of winning the T20 World Cup.
2. Shaheen Shah Afridi
After making a 180-degree turn against New Zealand at home in April, Pakistan’s new-ball speed merchant Shaheen Afridi concluded the PSL 2024 season with 14 wickets for the Lahore Qalandars. Prior to Babar Azam regaining the captaincy earlier this year, the 24-year-old was also given the baton of Pakistan’s T20I team for a trip.
Shaheen has taken 18 wickets in his two T20 World Cup appearances thus far, including a historic 3-31 match-winning stint against India in the UAE in 2021.
The left-arm fast, who has played in over 60 international T20 matches, will likely be one of Pakistan’s key players in the next 20-team competition as he will be relied upon to support their pace attack.
3. Muhammad Rizwan
Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan’s outstanding wicketkeeper-battler, was invited back into the national team for the pre-T20 World Cup tours of Ireland and England after missing a few T20Is against New Zealand. Along with captain and ace batsman Babar Azam, Rizwan is among the most experienced players on the Pakistan cricket team, having earned close to 100 Twenty20 International caps.
The 32-year-old was Babar’s right-hand man when Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets in 2021, setting a record. In 2022, he again made significant runs as his team finished second in Australia.
The cricket player, who is renowned for defeating the most formidable opponents on the biggest platforms, has amassed over 450 runs at an average of over 41 in just 13 T20 World Cup innings. Similar to captain Babar, Rizwan’s batting performance will potentially decide Pakistan’s fate in the 2024 tournament on the sluggish fields of the USA and the West Indies.
4. Iftikhar Ahmed
Even if Iftikhar Ahmed did not shine during the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, Pakistan would undoubtedly benefit from his batting style and all-around proficiency in the West Indies and the United States. Ahmed has a T20 strike rate of over 131 and a tendency for big smashes, particularly in the final overs of limited-overs tournaments.
Ahmed practiced by hitting 17 sixes and 23 boundaries in the recently finished Pakistan Super League 2024, which served as Pakistan’s ultimate training ground for the Twenty20 World Cup. Ahmed’s 259 runs from just 11 innings including these strikes. With a strike rate of 193.28, the hard-hitting radical led all batters with more than 100 runs scored in the season in batting average.
It’s also important to take Ahmed’s intermittent off-breaks seriously because the all-round player has the ability to provide timely strikes at pivotal moments in the game.
5. Fakhar Zaman
Fakhar Zaman is one of Pakistan’s most exciting potential for success in the 2024 T20 World Cup due to his T20 strike rate of around 135 as a top-order hitter. The explosive southpaw, who destroyed Indian bowlers with a brilliant century in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, was a major factor in Pakistan’s previous ICC title victory.
Since then, the cricketer’s aggressive ball-striking skills have made him one of the key players in Pakistan’s top order. As Pakistan prepares for the global challenge, a finely-tuned Fakhar will once again be expected to crack a few huge hits past the tiny boundaries of the West Indies and USA. Fakhar has experience playing PSL 2024 and T20Is against New Zealand and Ireland right before the World Cup.
