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Shane Watson Names Top 5 T20I Cricketers Ahead Of ICC World Cup

Former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has named his top 5 T20 stars ahead of the highly anticipated ICC T20 World Cup. The 41-year-old has anticipated 2 Pakistan players to have a solid outing at the ICC event alongside a fellow countryman with an Indian cricketer and an Englishman in his top 5.

Watson has named four batsmen from various teams as the cricketers he feels are amongst the best T20 players in the world. The 5th cricketer on his ranks is Shaheen Shah Afridi who makes the cut as the only bowler in Watson’s top 5 T20I players.

Check out Shane Watson’s top 5 Intl. Stars

Explaining his thoughts behind every player while speaking on ICC review, Watson shared how Azams’ batting technique sees the Men in Green captain be the No.1 player on his list. The former Aussie star is quoted saying, “First one I’d pick would be Babar Azam. He’s the No.1 T20I batsman in the world, and he just knows how to dominate.”

He added, “It’s like he’s not even taking any risks, and he scores incredibly quickly against the best bowlers in the world. He’s going to do very well in Australian conditions (during the T20 World Cup) as well, as his technique is very much built for Australian conditions.”

Watson named Suryakumar Yadav as the second player on the list while stating that the 31-year-old has been batting incredibly well for the Men in Blue in recent times. The Mumbai Indians star is undoubtedly one of the best Indian batters in the T20 format and is also ranked at the No.2 spot in the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, just 13 points behind Babar Azam.

Speaking about Yadav, Shane Watson mentioned, “Second one is Suryakumar Yadav. He’s batting incredibly well, and he would be my No.2 pick. But I wouldn’t be surprised at all if KL Rahul explodes in the T20 World Cup in Australia, because he’s got the game to dominate in these conditions in Australia.”

 

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Who makes the World T20I XI? Shane Watson picks his top 5 players ⬇️https://t.co/DhIGh9Q5Pc

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The former Australian all-rounder backed veteran Aussie opener and fellow countrymen David Warner as his third choice. Shane Watson stated, “He has scored some great runs for the Delhi Capitals (in the IPL). He’s going to have plenty of fire in his belly to make his mark in a T20 World Cup at home, so he’s going to be ready to go.”

England’s white ball captain Jos Buttler is Shane Watson’s fourth pick. The 41 year old reasoned the wicketkeeper’s inclusion in the list by stating, “No.4 for me is going to be Jos Buttler.  When he’s in form, and he has been in form, he’s just about impossible in T20 cricket to get out.”

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“He can hit wherever he wants off the best bowlers in the world.  And he knows Australian conditions really well, he’s played the Big Bash and did very well a few years ago, when I played with him at the Sydney Thunder,” Shane Watson added.

Speaking of Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi, the former Aussie cricketer said, “And the last one is Shaheen Afridi. His wicket-taking ability is something special. We saw in the last men’s T20 World Cup his ability to be able to get the best batsmen out with that brand new ball.”

“ I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t really dominate in Australian conditions, with the ball swinging around and fast, bouncy wickets.  My only little concern with him is, if he doesn’t take wickets to start with, then he can tail off a little bit. But I’m sure he’s been working on that. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t dominate here,” Shane Watson concluded.

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