From Smriti Mandhana to Abtaha Maqsood, Al Jazeera picks the ten gamers who may gentle up the event within the UAE.
A few of cricket’s most interesting expertise shall be on show on the ICC Girls’s T20 World Cup 2024, which will get below manner with a match between Bangladesh and Scotland in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, on Thursday.
All 10 groups will depend on the expertise of their big-name gamers to steer all of them the way in which to glory within the October 20 remaining in Dubai.
Al Jazeera picks the ten gamers to be careful for on the ninth version of the event.
Chamari Athapathuthu: Sri Lanka
Athapathuthu, together with her spectacular all-round abilities, shall be on the forefront of Sri Lanka’s marketing campaign within the event. The Sri Lankan captain is ranked fifth within the ICC’s Girls’s T20 all-rounder standings and just lately led her nation to their first-ever Asia Cup title. The 34-year-old bowls correct off-spin and could be an explosive batter within the shortest format of the sport. Athapaththu has made 246 worldwide appearances since her debut – on the age of 19 – within the T20 World Cup in 2006 and boasts a wealth of expertise in franchise T20 cricket as nicely.
Deepti Sharma: India
Sharma shall be essential to India’s probabilities as her nation’s highest-ranked bowler (2nd) and all-rounder (third) within the T20 format. The 27-year-old off-break bowler and left-handed batter has appeared 211 instances for her nation. The cool-headed Indian star was one of many main performers on the Girls’s Hundred event in England, the place her monstrous six-off sealed the title for London Spirit.
Fatima Sana: Pakistan
Sana, who made her debut in 2019 on the age of 18, is the rising star of Pakistan cricket and its nice hope following its troublesome current run. Though but to attain a fifty for her nation, the fast-bowling all-rounder has scored a minimal of 20 runs in her final six worldwide innings. The younger captain will look so as to add extra wickets to her 31 in dismissals in T20s if Pakistan are to make a mark on event.
Smriti Mandhana: India
Mandhana has been a mainstay of India’s batting since making her debut in 2014. The Indian vice-captain is the second highest run-getter in T20 internationals with 56 half-centuries to her identify. The 28-year-old from Mumbai led her Bengaluru franchise to their maiden Girls’s Premier League title earlier this yr and can look to assist India do the identical in T20 World Cup.
Smriti Mandhana claimed her maiden ICC Participant of the Month award for a spectacular exhibiting in June 👌
Extra ➡ https://t.co/jmp8DAqanM pic.twitter.com/LNSE0ylygI
— ICC (@ICC) July 9, 2024
Beth Mooney: Australia
Opening batter Mooney at the moment tops the ICC’s T20 batter rankings and is without doubt one of the many big-name gamers in an skilled Australian squad. The 30-year-old, who made her debut for Queensland aged 16, has registered two centuries and 23 fifties in 95 innings for the reigning champions.
Nahida Akter: Bangladesh
Akter is one wicket shy of 100 in T20 internationals with a mean of solely 16. The left-arm finger spinner has greatest bowling figures of 5-8 in 87 T20 internationals at solely 24 years of age. Akter claimed 2-17 on debut 9 years in the past as a 15-year-old towards Pakistan in Karachi.
Abtaha Maqsood: Scotland
A leg-spinner of nice promise, the 25-year-old has already claimed 54 T20 wickets at a mean of 15 in 53 matches for Scotland. Maqsood’s contributions may elevate the Scottish workforce to the following degree, particularly given the spinner-friendly circumstances within the UAE. The reliable spinner may flip this World Cup right into a breakthrough worldwide event for herself and her nation, who’re making their T20 World Cup debut.
Laura Wolvaardt: South Africa
Wolvaardt will search to captain her facet to the ultimate step having been runners-up on the final version. The 25-year-old has a wealth of expertise having made her debut as a 16-year-old in an ODI towards England in 2016. The proper-handed opening batter is fifth within the T20 rankings, her nation’s highest in any self-discipline, and has one century and 11 fifties in 66 T20 innings for her nation.
Sophie Ecclestone: England
Ecclestone is the highest-ranked bowler in each the ICC T20 and ODI rankings. The left-arm finger spinner has made 159 appearances in all codecs for England at solely 25 years of age and has 126 wickets in 85 T20 internationals at a mean of solely 14. Having made her debut for her nation at 17, Ecclestone had claimed the primary rating in T20s by the age of 20.
Hayley Matthews: West Indies
The West Indies captain at the moment enjoys the place of the world’s prime all-rounder and is third within the batting rankings. Matthews’ status lengthy preceded her worldwide debut on the age of solely 16, and at 25 she has already amassed 180 appearances for West Indies and has two centuries and 13 fifties in 96 T20 internationals.
