ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Australian Great Mark Waugh Names His Top Five T20 Players

Australia icon Mark Waugh has joined the lengthy list of previous greats in selecting the first five players they would choose in a World T20I XI with the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup just around the corner. 

Waugh, who made 8500 ODI runs and was a member of Australia’s 1999 Cricket World Cup winning team, was renowned for his aggressiveness at the top of the order and his lightning fielding both in the infield and the slip cordon. 

The all-rounder, a talented white-ball cricket player, would have probably dominated the T20 globe had he competed in the present era. 

Mark Waugh Names Pair Of Jasprit Bumrah And Shaheen Afridi As His Opening Bowlers

Waugh emphasised that his selection was not in any specific order while speaking in the lead-up to the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, and he focused on the bowlers in the quintet first. 

Given his proficiency across all formats and his capacity to bowl in all phases in the shortest format, Mark Waugh started with Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. The ICC cited his words as follows: 

“I think he’s a fantastic bowler in all formats, actually. His ability to get wickets in T20 cricket is key. He can bowl at the death and he can bowl up front.” 

Shaheen Shah Afridi of Pakistan was chosen by the former Australian cricketer because of his prowess with the new ball in terms of taking wickets. He believes that Afridi’s left-arm movement is what sets him apart. 

“To open the bowling at the other end we’ll go with another right-opening bowler, Shaheen Afridi from Pakistan, who is a tremendous left-arm fast bowler. He’s a wicket-taker. He sort of lifts the team. He’s a guy that other players follow. 

“He is a left-armer so that’s another point of difference. He can swing the ball back into the right-hander, he’s quick as well, so I’ve got him (at) number two.” 

Rashid Khan Is Just The Guy Who You Know Is Going To Bowl Four Overs: Mark Waugh

After that, the 57-year-old selected Afghan leggie Rashid Khan for his reliability in making breakthroughs and power-hitting with the bat.

“In all competitions, he plays in, he’s just the one guy who you know is going to bowl four overs. He’ll probably get two or three wickets and go for 20 runs, and he can bat. He can also whack the ball over the fence.” 

Rashid is now one of franchise cricket’s top T20 bowlers. The 24-year-old achieved the quickest 100 T20I wickets in October 2021. 

Mark Waugh Finishes His Top 5 With Two Destructive Batters

Jos Buttler, the captain of England’s white-ball team, was chosen by Mark Waugh because of his outstanding striking prowess and because he believes he is the best T20 hitter. 

“I think he’s probably the number one batsman in world cricket in the T20 format. He’s just a clean striker of the ball. We’ve seen him in all tournaments, he just looks on a different level to other players.” 

Glenn Maxwell, a fellow Australian who Mark Waugh believes provides Australia with the X-factor, was his last selection. 

“With the ball, he’s probably underrated, but I think if he bats 30 balls, he’ll win you the game. So I think Glenn Maxwell, even though he’s just not a consistent player, he’s that X-factor that can win your game on any given day.” 

The likes of Bumrah, Afridi, Rashid, Buttler, and Maxwell are expected to play key roles for their teams in the T20 World Cup 2022 starting next month in Australia. 

Also Read: India vs South Africa: Match Preview, South Africa Tour Of India 2022, 1st T20I