Top cricketers eyeing last shot at T20 World Cup glory

Niharika Raina

New Delhi, May 14 (IANS) The ICC Men's T20 World Cup is the pinnacle prize for any international cricketer in the shortest format of the game. Right from MS Dhoni to Daren Sammy to Aaron Finch and Jos Buttler, they all along with Younis Khan and Lasith Malinga had the honour of captaining their respective teams to the T20 World Cup title.
 

Come June 1, and 20 teams will be in a battle for the entire month to decide who would win the prestigious Men's T20 World Cup silverware. For some of the players, it could become the last chance to have a shot at winning the title.

IANS looks at some cricketers who could potentially be playing their last Men's T20 World Cup:

Rohit Sharma (India)

The India captain has been playing T20Is since 2007 and played handy knocks in India’s title-winning run in South Africa. Now, after having taken India to a runners-up finish in the 2023 Men's ODI World Cup, Rohit would be itching to go one step further through the upcoming T20I showpiece.

But Rohit’s form in second half of IPL 2024 has been a concern, a season where he's not captaining Mumbai Indians anymore. In his last seven innings this season, the-37-year-old has been out of sorts and has amassed 88 runs at a strike rate of 104.8 and average of 12.6.

With India having lots of young batting talent and soon to burst on the big stage, Rohit will probably treat this World Cup as his last hope of claiming his hands at a white-ball silverware by leading India to glory in the Caribbean and USA.

Virat Kohli (India)

If there is one player in the Indian team who’s desperate to win a global title alongside, it’s the talismanic Virat Kohli. Though he has winners medals from the 2011 Men's ODI World Cup at home and 2013 Champions Trophy, Kohli would be aiming to have a shot at winning the T20 World Cup to complete his set of medals in white-ball cricket.

The signs are there as Kohli, 35, is in stellar form in the ongoing IPL 2024 season and is leading run-making charts in the tournament. He averages 81.5 in T20 World Cups and has two Player of the Tournament awards too, which means chances are bright for him to do the bulk of scoring for India in upcoming World Cup.

Though his strike rate and scoring effectiveness against spin has been a major talking point, Kohli did show through his 92 against Punjab Kings that he’s adding shots like slog-sweep to counter that, which is a massive news for India.

David Warner (Australia)

The aggressive left-handed opening batter has been one of the biggest players for Australia since 2009. From there, Warner has two ODI World Cup winners medals, as well as one each from T20 World Cup and World Test Championship. Warner right now is on the swansong of his cricketing career, after retiring from Tests and ODIs earlier this year.

Though he hasn’t been in greatest of form for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024 and has missed a lot of games due to injury, Warner, 37, would be itching to sign off from international cricket on a high with the T20 World Cup silverware.

Moeen Ali (England)

An explosive left-handed batter who can bat anywhere in the line-up and doubles up as a handy off-spin bowler, Moeen has a wealth of experience in terms of playing T20 cricket, mainly as a floater. He won the 2022 T20 World Cup and has a runner-up finish against his name in 2016.

Moeen, 36, had gone back into Test cricket retirement after last year's Ashes and was also rumoured to quit ODIs for prolonging his T20 career. With many younger crop of players coming through the ranks in England, the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup could be his last global appearance in the shorter format.

Quinton de Kock (South Africa)

The left-handed wicketkeeper-batter had retired from Tests at the end of 2021 and signed off from the ODI format after last year’s World Cup in India, where he struck four centuries for South Africa in their semifinal finish.

Of late, de Kock hadn’t been in best of form in T20s, having had a run in the BBL and SA20, though there's been some improvement on that in the ongoing IPL 2024. If South Africa, the perennial underachievers, are to finally win a global trophy through the upcoming T20 World Cup, de Kock will have to play a crucial role in it if he signs off from international cricket later.

--IANS

nr/bc