T20 World Cup 2024: Ranking the Best Openers of All Teams
England, Australia, and India, the standouts as we look at the ranking of the top 10 teams basis their best openers for T20 World Cup 2024.
After an intense engagement during the Indian Premier League, the world is now getting ready for the intense battle in the form of the T20 World Cup 2024. This is the third T20 World Cup in just 4 years, and some of us must already be goofing as to why we have T20 World Cups so frequently. Well, a T20 World Cup is scheduled every two years, but due to COVID, the 2020 T20 WC was shifted to 2021, and 2022 was played as usual.
But even as we have seen frequent World Cups, the excitement to witness our favorite team or country in action is non-comparable. 20 teams for the first time in the history of the T20 World Cup will be competing with each other for a month for that one spot. But if we talk about the players who will steer the wheel for these teams, it is the openers.
Every team is filled with quality openers in their side, but which team has the best opening combination for the T20 World Cup 2024? Well, let’s analyze the best opening pair of top 10 teams, and look at the ranking of the top 10 teams basis their best openers for T20 World Cup 2024. For the simplicity of the analysis, we shall only consider the first-choice openers that we are going to see for these teams.
T20 World Cup 2024 – Ranking Top 10 Teams Basis Their Best Openers
#10. Bangladesh – Litton Das & Soumya Sarkar
Starting with number 10, and we have the Bangladesh team with Litton Das and Soumya Sarkar as their best openers. To be honest, both are experienced openers, and can certainly play a few good knocks. But it is just that the completion is so intense that they unfortunately find themselves at the number 10 position. But for Bangladesh, these two will be key guys to have a solid foundation.
#9. Afghanistan – Rahmanullah Gurbaz & Ibrahim Zadran
At number 9, we have the Afghanistan team with Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran as their best openers. Both Gurbaz and Ibrahim have been playing with each other for a few years now. Both have been giving good starts to the team, and the Afghanistan team shall be hoping for similar results in the upcoming World Cup as well. Between the two, Gurbaz is a more accomplished opener, and he also represents an IPL team.
#8. Sri Lanka – Pathum Nissanka & Kusal Mendis
Coming to number 8, we have the Sri Lankan Team with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis as their best openers. Both Pathum and Kusal are decent options to have as openers. Of the two, Kusal is more attacking, and Pathum focuses more on building the innings. Thus, both complement each other perfectly.
#7. West Indies – Brandon King & Johnson Charles
At number 7, we have the West Indies team with Brandon King and Johnson Charles as their best openers. Both Brandon and Charles follow the DNA of West Indies of playing a belligerent brand of cricket. The focus of West Indies shall once again be to give aggressive starts, rather than play long, and this is what we can expect from the 2024 T20 World Cup.
#6. Pakistan – Saim Ayub & Mohammad Rizwan
Number 6 sees the Pakistan team with Mohammad Rizwan and Saim Ayub as their best openers. Now, Rizwan is undoubtedly one of the best openers in the world. He is known for his consistent batting, and can accelerate when needed. However, Saim Ayub is a young opener, and is still making a mark in the Cricketing world.
#5. South Africa – Quinton de Kock & Reeza Hendricks
Number 5 belongs to the South African team with Quinton de Kock and Reeza Hendricks as their best openers. Both de Kock and Reeza are known names from South Africa. Both are similar type players with the focus more on building the innings, and playing timely aggressive shots. But as compared to the top 4, there are still a few gaps.
#4. New Zealand – Devon Conway & Finn Allen
At number 4, we have the New Zealand team with Devon Conway and Finn Allen as their best openers. Both Conway and Allen complement each other perfectly. While Conway focuses more on building the innings, Allen is more of an aggressor, who likes to take on the bowlers from the start.
#3. India – Rohit Sharma & Yashasvi Jaiswal
Coming to the top 3, we have Team India with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal as their best openers. Technically, both are really good as an opening pair. But when we compare these with England or Australia, they lack a punch, although marginally. Interestingly, this is Jaiswal’s first ICC tournament while playing for the senior team, so it would be interesting to see how he copes up with the pressure. Whereas Rohit would want to improve on his horrible T20 World Cup performance.
#2. Australia – David Warner & Travis Head
Number 2 belongs to the Australian team, who have David Warner and Travis Head as their best openers for the T20 World Cup 2024. Compared to India, the duo of Warner and Head seems more reliable as well as destructive. What’s more promising is the current form of these two openers; more so of Travis Head, who is coming after a stunning IPL 2024. Whereas David Warner is a big tournament player, so we can expect Warner’s A game this World Cup.
#1. England – Jos Buttler & Phil Salt
At number 1, we have the King of opening pair, Phil Salt and Jos Buttler. Talk about being belligerent as well as being consistent at the same time, and Jos Buttler and Phil Salt fit that bill perfectly together. These two are among the top 5 best openers in the world currently, and together, there is absolutely no match for them.
Thanks for reading! What’s your take on the best openers ranking for the T20 World Cup 2024? Please email your thoughts to business@cricalytics.com.
ALSO READ: T20 World Cup 2024: All 20 Teams Official Final Squad Players List
Adesh Kothari is the founder of AK4Tsay1 Cricalytics with over 20 years of experience following Cricket.
Cricket to him is like what Football is to Lionel Messi, Singing is to Lata Mangeshkar, Dancing is to Michael Jackson, and Acting is to Clint Eastwood.
Besides his effervescent love for Cricket, Adesh is an MBA by qualification.
