ICC T20 World Cup: Associate players to watch out for
The 2024 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup will get underway on June 1. Eight of the 20 participating teams are from the Associate nations namely Netherlands, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Canada, Nepal, Oman, Namibia, Uganda, and hosts USA. Notably, only eight teams will advance to the Super Eight stage. Here we look at the Associate team players to watch out for.
Kushal Malla - Nepal
Nepal all-rounder Kushal Malla can cause some serious damage with his fiery hitting. Last year, the dasher smashed the fastest-ever T20I hundred, off just 34 deliveries against Mongolia. His T20I strike rate since 2023 reads 176.04. Moreover, the left-arm spinner's economy rate in the T20I format is just 6.18. Hence, he would be critical to Nepal's success at the event.
Corey Anderson - USA
A former New Zealand international Corey Anderson is a proven performer of the T20I format. The pace-bowling all-rounder even represented the Kiwis in the 2014 and 2016 editions of the competition. Anderson will play for USA in the upcoming event and many eyes are on him. He has an average and economy rate of 131.18 and 8.06 in T20Is, respectively.
Mark Watt - Scotland
Mark Watt is among the Scotland players to watch out for. The left-arm spinner can restrict the flow of runs in the middle overs besides claiming key wickets. He is even Scotland's leading wicket-taker in T20 WCs with 16 scalps at an economy of 6.03. In the 2022 event, he claimed a match-winning three-fer in Scotland's historic triumph over West Indies.
David Wiese - Namibia
Veteran all-rounder David Wiese, a former South African international, has been a brilliant performer for Namibia. He can deliver handy spells besides playing stunning cameos lower down the order. In T20 WCs, he has accumulated 321 runs at an average of 40.12. The tally also includes 10 wickets at an economy of 7.3.
Bas de Leede - Netherlands
In Bas de Leede, we have another pace-bowling all-rounder on this list. He has been brilliant across both white-ball formats for Netherlands in recent years. With 13 scalps at an economy of 7.68, the right-arm pacer was even the second-highest wicket-taker of the 2022 T20 WC. Moreover, he owns four half-centuries across 31 innings in the T20I format.
