T20 World Cup 2024: Top five Associate players to watch out for

The 2024 edition of the ICC T20 World Cup is set to begin in the West Indies and USA from June 1 with host United States taking on Canada at Dallas, Texas.

The Group Stage fixtures will shuttle between the West Indies and USA before the caravan moves solely to the Windies for the Super Eight fixtures and beyond.

In addition to several global superstars of the sport, the World Cup will also offer a platform for many up-and-coming players from the associate nation teams taking part.

Here are the top five Associate team players to watch out for this T20 World Cup:

Dipendra Singh Airee

Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee gathered the cricket world’s attention after he struck six sixes in an over against Qatar in April. That performance made him only the third batter after Yuvraj Singh and Kieron Pollard to manage the feat in T20Is.

Airee followed that by striking a nine-ball half-century against Mongolia in the Asian Games to better Yuvraj’s record for the fastest T20 fifty.

At the T20 World Cup, Airee — and Nepal — will be up against far more formidable opponents with stakes much higher than all the previous competitions he and his team have succeeded in.

Gerhard Erasmus

All-rounder Gerhard Erasmus, who bats in the top order and can also open the bowling with his off-break, will be at the helm of affair for Namibia heading into a vital T20 World Cup campaign.

The 29-year-old Erasmus, who won the 2023 ICC’s Associate Cricketer of the Year award, has been a vital cog in his side’s World Cup qualification.

In the past year, the Namibian skipper has been his team’s third-most prolific run-scorer (360) while also picking up the highest number of wickets (24) in T20Is.

Ali Khan

Ever since he broke through the American private cricket leagues, Ali Khan has been a regular feature in the global T20 franchise circuit.

The right-arm pacer bowler, who in 2020 became the first American to be picked in an IPL auction, will get a chance to shine in front of his home crowd at the T20 World Cup.

The 33-year-old Ali has an impressive bowling average of 26.43, while going 8.71 runs per over in the format.

Bas de Leede

All-rounder Bas de Leede will be vital to Netherlands’ hopes of springing a surprise or two at the T20 World Cup.

The 24-year-old has more T20I wickets in the last two years than any other Dutch bowler, while also being the second-highest run-getter for his side.

With a career strike rate of 106.11, de Leede is not the quickest with the bat. But in an often under-firing Dutch batting unit, the right-handed batter offers a sense of stability in the middle overs.

Bilal Khan

Among pacers to have taken at least 100 T20 wickets in the last five years, nobody has a better average than Oman’s Bilal Khan.

The Pakistan-born left-arm pacer has been central to his country’s progress in the global cricketing pecking order. Earlier this year, he became the first bowler from an Associate nation to get to 100 T20I wickets.

The 37-year-old Bilal, who is the leading T20I wicket-taker for Oman, will be looking to make a mark in the T20 World Cup.