With the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) in its final phase, the count down to the gala event of the One-day format in cricket has just begun. Teams have announced their squads, each representing their best and strongest for the event. And none of the teams could be mistaken for an underdog going for the ICC Men’s World Cup 2019.
Every team has strengthened their squads with decent batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders respectively. Whereas the all-rounder can be handy in batting and bowling and in between, the bowling all-rounders could prove goods with the bowl in death overs. There are also some genuine all-rounders who are seen as the match winners.
The all-rounder is a blessing for any team, especially in a big event like the World Cup. The world has seen some rare of the all-rounders in cricket and even rarest of those being all-time favourites listed in the history of cricket.
Here is the list of five of such all-rounders who’d make up a good impression in the World Cup.
Top Five All-Rounders To Watch Out For:
Hardik Pandya(India):
Indian selectors have recently announced the name of the players for the World Cup 2019 and Hardik Pandya’s name in the list did not surprise fans. Pandya has been fabulous on the field. He has been picking all important wickets for his team.
After Kapil Dev retired from Indian cricket, Pandya has come forward as a bright prospect to emerge as the perfect all-rounder for the team. He scores quick, raising the runs-chart in his favour, at the most crucial point for his team. He is known for being evil to spinners and bouncing them off with his six-hitting spree.
Pandya’s consistency in the game makes him one of the most dreaded batsmen of the limited-overs cricket. And he will continue to make a stronger batting order for the Team India Whilst his experience in England makes him even more dangerous for the opponents.
Mitchell Santner(New Zealand):
The Kiwis spinner is not only good with the ball, but also can display a good show with his bat. Last year, in their opening match of the first ODI against England, Santner’s unbeaten 27-ball 45 propelled the team to their first win with four balls to spare.
While hunting down a target, Mitchell is proven lower-order batsman for New Zealand. With tricks for bowling up his sleeves, he is more technical with his bat. With a strike rate of approximately 90, Santner had scored 826 runs in 59 matches, where 67 has been his highest score.
Santner has been economical with runs, conceding just 4.9 for 63 wickets in the overall ODI matches. Even in the 17 matches, he had played since last year, he had conceded only 5.4 runs per over in three of them.
Ben Stokes(England):
Ben Stokes had emerged as one of the finest players of England over the years, changing the dynamics of English cricket. He is one of the deadliest all-rounders of England with infectious energy on the field.
While he is aggressive with his bat on the field, he has a knack of providing breakthroughs for his team when nothing seems to work.
Stokes had picked 63 wickets in 79 ODI matches of his career, conceding around six in an over, while 2088 are his total ODI scores. Even though he has not been consistent, his ruthlessness on the field makes him as one of the most potent contenders for the World Cup.
Marcus Stoinis (Australia):
The right-handed batsman and a medium pacer, Marcus Stoinis had been remarked as the ‘biggest threat’ by Virat Kohli – one of the best batsmen in the world. The Aussie all-rounder is a limited overs specialist for the Australian team.
In his 33 ODI matches career, Stoinis had scored 963 runs at a strike rate of 93.5 and had collected about 26 wickets for the team. While over the past year he had been able to snatch 391 runs from his 18 ODIs.
Mohammad Nabi(Afghanistan):
The Afghan cricketer is currently in limelight for his performance with the ball in the ongoing IPL event His famous four-wicket haul for just 11 runs had torn apart the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Earlier, this year in February, the all-rounder Nabi combined his 49 runs off 40 balls with that of Najibullah Zadran – to register Afghanistan’s first win in the three-match T20I series. He ensured the team’s eighth consecutive win against Ireland.
When the team is under pressure and need an urgent wicket, Nabi comes up as a threat for an opponent team. He is a perfect player for any short format and is capable of batting or bowling at either order of the match.
In 111 ODI matches, Nabi had scored 2579 runs and plucked 118 wickets releasing just 4.25 runs in an over.