While big teams like India, England and others are in the fray as usual, fans will also witness some of the minnows of world cricket.
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The 2021 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup is just over a month away. Almost every side that will be participating in the tournament has submitted their full squads and the excitement regarding the competition is growing with each passing day. While the big teams like India, Australia, England and others are in the fray, as usual, fans will witness some of the minnows of world cricket. These include the likes of Oman and Papua New Guinea among others. Although the big ones are the title favorites, a few upsets are not completely out of the question. Only recently, Bangladesh beat Australia 4-1 in a T20 series.
No matter what kind of form they might be in before a tournament, the Aussies are always one of the favorites. It is just their sheer ability to turn up in big tournaments, irrespective of their players, is what makes them possibly the greatest cricketing nation of all time.
Squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
Ever since winning the 2011 cricket world cup, India have always been a side that has performed well in competitions. They might not have won any in recent memory, but they are definitely in contention. The Indian side currently seems to be a well-balanced one and are possibly the strongest favorites to lift the trophy.
Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami; Stand-by: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur; Mentor: MS Dhoni.
The champions of the world are always going to be within a shout of winning any cricketing tournament. Ever since the heartbreak of the 2017 T20 world cup, England have been a determined side, getting better each day. In the shorter format of the games, they have made immense progress and will certainly be a force to contend with.
Squad: Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood; Reserves: Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, James Vince.
The Kiwis are yet to win an ICC tournament in recent history but they came mighty close in 2019. They had tied the final against England, but a controversial decision by the umpires ultimately cost them the crown. There could be no better redemption than winning the T20 world cup.
Squad: Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee; Injury cover: Adam Milne.
The Proteas have indeed had a pretty steep fall from the top. They used to be favorites in almost every competition they participated in but that is not the case any more. Nonetheless, they still have quite a strong squad on paper and it will not be easy to beat them.
Squad: Temba Bavuma (c), Keshav Maharaj, Quinton de Kock (wk), Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, W Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen; Reserves: George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lizaad Williams
The Windies are the defending champions and although the bookies do not favor a title retention, it is important to note that the Caribbean side had last won the competition despite not being one of the favourites. The Windies squad is a seasoned one and if their batters get into the zone, they can easily destroy any opponent in front of them.
Squad: Kieron Pollard (Captain), Nicholas Pooran (Vice Captain), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Roston Chase, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Lendl Simmons, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr. Reserves: Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein.
Pakistan is and will always remain a dark horse going into a big tournament. They might not be as threatening as they were perhaps a decade ago, but beating them in familiar conditions will require a mighty effort from any opposition.
Squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Azam Khan, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood.
The Bangla Tigers will go into the competition with a lot of confidence. They have every reason to be confident as well. Recently, they beat the mighty Australia 4-1 in a T20 series. The Tigers are more than capable of causing some major upsets in the tournament.
Squad: Mahmud Ullah (Captain), Naim Sheikh, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Kumer Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Shaif Uddin, Shamim Hossain; Reserves: Rubel Hossain, Aminul Islam Biplob.
Afghanistan: Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Shahzad, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Naveen ul Haq, Hamid Hassan, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Qais Ahmed. Reserves: Afsar Zazai, Farid Ahmed Malik.
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (c), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Shane Getkate, Graham Kennedy, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.
Oman: Zeeshan Maqsood (c), Aqib Ilyas, Jatinder Singh, Khawar Ali, Mohammad Nadeem, Ayaan Khan, Suraj Kumar, Sandeep Goud, Nester Dhamba, Kaleemullah, Bilal Khan, Naseem Khushi, Sufyan Mehmood, Fayyaz Butt, Khurram Khan.
Papua New Guinea: Assad Vala (c), Charles Amini, Lega Siaka, Norman Vanua, Nosaina Pokana, Kipling Doriga, Tony Ura, Hiri Hiri, Gaudi Toka, Sese Bau, Damien Ravu, Kabua Vagi-Morea, Simon Atai, Jason Kila, Chad Soper, Jack Gardner.
Scotland: Kyle Coetzer (c), Richard Berrington (vc), Dylan Budge, Matthew Cross (wk), Josh Davey, Alasdair Evans, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Michael Leask, Calum Macleod, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Hamza Tahir, Craig Wallace (wk), Mark Watt, Brad Wheal.
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