The subcontinent beckons as the cricketing world turns its gaze to India and Sri Lanka, co-hosts of the 10th edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which gets underway this Saturday. It is the tournament’s second outing in the expanded 20-team format introduced in 2024.
Controversy has swirled around the competition even before a ball has been bowled.
Bangladesh withdrew after refusing to travel to India over security concerns, prompting Scotland’s late inclusion as replacements. Pakistan, amid an ongoing diplomatic standoff with neighbours India, have since boycotted their group-stage match against them.
If the cricket action lives up to the chaos surrounding the tournament, this World Cup promises to be unmissable. Here, The Athletic profiles 10 players who could light up the next month.
Abhishek Sharma
Age: 25
Team: India
Role: Left-handed batter
T20 international career: 38 matches, 1,297 runs, HS 135, average 37.05, SR 194.74, 2 x 100, 8 x 50
T20 career: 173 matches, 5,100 runs, HS 148, average 33.33, SR 173.58, 8 x 100, 30 x 50
Abhishek Sharma is the most destructive batter in T20 internationals (T20I), as fearsome as any the game has seen.
He sets the tone for this Indian batting line-up, which is even more dangerous than the group that won the previous T20 World Cup two years ago, despite Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli having since retired.
The left-hander from Punjab operates from a stable base reminiscent of West Indies hero Chris Gayle in the prior decade: creating room, extending his arms, freeing his swing. Sharma dispatches deliveries over the off-side or straight back over the bowler’s head, flicks anything on his pads with brutal efficiency, walks down the pitch to fast bowlers without hesitation, has a rasping cut shot and a deft upper cut that sends short balls sailing over third man.
Everything about his game is turbocharged.
India’s destructive Abhishek Sharma (Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images)
Mentored by former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, Sharma was inspired by his idol’s six sixes in a Stuart Broad over against England at the 2007 T20 World Cup. Now he is chasing Yuvraj’s 12-ball 50 record from that same match. He came agonisingly close last month, reaching his half-century off just 14 balls and finishing on 68 not out having faced 20 deliveries against New Zealand without playing a single dot ball, as India chased down 153 in 10 overs.
Sharma’s 2025 was a year of records: the fastest Indian to 1,000 T20I runs (by balls faced); the highest T20I score by an Indian (135 against England in Mumbai); the most T20 sixes by an Indian in a calendar year (91); and the fastest player ever to 5,000 T20 runs (2,898 balls). His T20I strike rate of 194.74 is the best of any batter, ever.
India’s T20 World Cup group matches
- February 7 — United States, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- February 12 — Namibia, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
- February 15 — Pakistan, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo (Pakistan say they do not intend to fulfil the fixture)
- February 18 — Netherlands, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Saurabh Netravalkar
Age: 34
Team: United States
Role: Left-arm fast bowler
T20I career: 41 matches, 40 wickets, BBI 5-12, average 22.92, economy 6.85, SR 20.0
T20 career: 65 matches, 71 wickets, BBI 5-12, average 22.74, economy 7.38, SR 18.4
Saurabh Netravalkar’s journey from club-level player in Mumbai to becoming the face of American cricket is one of the sport’s most improbable tales.
The Mumbai-born left-arm seamer was India’s leading wicket-taker at the 2010 Under-19 World Cup before moving to the United States in 2015 to pursue a master’s degree at Cornell University in New York State. He still holds down a day job as a software engineer with technology firm Oracle. At club matches, he has been known to spend lunch intervals hunched over his laptop, coding, or fielding video calls between overs.
His national side rely on him to bowl the tough overs. With the new ball, Netravalkar leans on swing, nagging seam movement, and disciplined line and length. Notably, 55 per cent of his T20I wickets are top-order batters (Nos 1-3). At the death, he utilises wide-of-the-crease yorkers and clever slower balls to deceive batters.
Saurabh Netravalkar bowling against Ireland in 2023 (Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
Netravalkar became an overnight sensation at the 2024 T20 World Cup when he defended 18 runs in a Super Over to seal a historic upset against Pakistan, followed that with a dream spell against India: dismissing Kohli for a golden duck — Kohli’s first duck in the T20 World Cup — then removing Rohit Sharma in his next over.
The Super 8s proved tougher going. He managed 2-21 against South Africa but went wicketless in the remaining games.
Since then, Netravalkar was the leading wicket-taker in Major League Cricket 2024 with 15 from seven innings at an economy rate of 7.67, and he managed nine from 11 at 8.68 in the same competition last year. He found top form when it mattered most, taking three wickets in September’s Caribbean Premier League final as Trinbago Knight Riders lifted the trophy.
United States’ T20 World Cup group matches
- February 7 — India, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- February 10 — Pakistan, Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo
- February 13 — Netherlands, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- February 15 — Namibia, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Usman Tariq
Age: 28
Team: Pakistan
Role: Right-arm off-spin bowler
T20I career: 3 matches, 8 wickets, BBI 4-18, average 7.50, economy 5.62, SR 8.0, 1 x 4w
T20 career: 41 matches, 67 wickets, BBI 4-17, average 16.25, economy 6.79, SR 14.3, 4 x 4w
Pakistan’s latest mystery spinner, Usman Tariq already stirring controversy.
His sidearm, slinging action as a bowler is unmistakable: a normal run-up, an exaggerated pause of up to two seconds, then whipping the ball through. He relies more on his googly and carrom ball than the traditional off-break, varying his trajectory by going round-arm, making it difficult for batters to get under the ball to give their shots elevation.
Tariq made his international debut in October 2025 against South Africa, dismissing Dewald Brevis and Reeza Hendricks. His next opportunity came against Zimbabwe, where he claimed a hat-trick en route to figures of 4-18.
Most recently, against Australia last month, he dismissed Cameron Green, who walked off making a throwing gesture and accusing him of “chucking.” Englishman Tom Banton did the same at the International League T20 in December. His bowling action has drawn scrutiny. Tariq has been reported twice during Pakistan Super League seasons (2024 and 2025) but was cleared on both occasions after biomechanics testing, with his elbow extension within the ICC’s 15-degree limit.
Tariq responded to his critics with an Instagram meme mocking Green. “I would like to give a message,” he said, “that every single person who is commenting on this should study first about cricket and then go for the allegations. Illiteracy can kill knowledge.”
Usman Tariq’s bowling action has come under scrutiny (Sameer Ali/Getty Images)
One challenge awaits: ICC-event umpiring panels operate to stricter standards than domestic leagues. That will be his biggest test. Alongside the political controversy surrounding Pakistan’s scheduled clash with India, Tariq finds himself at the centre of cricket’s most talked-about storylines.
He has developed a reputation as a knockout specialist: he was central to Quetta Gladiators reaching the PSL final in May with three wickets in Qualifier 1 before a tightly-contested loss to Lahore Qalandars, claimed six wickets across two qualifying games as Trinbago Knight Riders lifted the CPL in September and took three wickets in Qualifier 1 and 2-20 in the final as Desert Vipers won the ILT20 last month.
Pakistan’s T20 World Cup group matches
- February 7 — Netherlands, Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo
- February 10 — United States, Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo
- February 15 — India, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo (Pakistan say they do not intend to fulfil the fixture)
- February 18 — Namibia, Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo
Pathum Nissanka
Age: 27
Team: Sri Lanka
Role: Right-handed batter
T20I career: 84 matches, 2,437 runs, HS 107, average 30.84, SR 127.25, 1 x 100, 18 x 50
T20 career: 160 matches, 4,402 runs, HS 119, average 29.34, SR 131.40, 2 x 100, 32 x 50
Pathum Nissanka is Sri Lanka’s most reliable batter across the various formats of cricket, and arguably one of the best in the world.
He became the first Sri Lankan to score a double century in ODIs — 210 not out against Afghanistan — in 2024, and remains his nation’s only player with a century in Tests, ODIs and T20Is. Nissanka’s elegance at the crease maintains the legacy of Sri Lankan predecessors Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. He is excellent square of the wicket: the pull shot has become his signature. Drives have become lofted, flicks fly off his bat.
Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka in full flow (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images)
Strike rate was always the concern with his T20 batting. At the 2022 T20 World Cup, it sat at a worrying 109. But that has changed dramatically over the past four years. His T20I strike rate has climbed steadily: 112.99 in 2022, 138.53 in 2024, 149.16 in 2025. His powerplay strike rate has jumped from 93.2 in 2023 to 160.8 last year, while his dot ball percentage has dropped from 54.2 to 34.9. This improvement is mirrored in franchise cricket: 152.75 in Lanka Premier League 2024, the highest of his four seasons, and 186.92 in the recently concluded ILT20.
The most compelling evidence came in the Asia Cup against India in September: 107 off 58 balls (seven fours, six sixes) at a strike rate of 184.48, becoming the first Sri Lankan to score a T20I century when facing India. Since the start of 2024, he averages 52.25 in chases, striking at 153.67, following in the footsteps of his idol, Kohli.
With home advantage and Sri Lanka’s spinners anticipated to make their mark, the co-hosts have a real chance at this tournament. But with inconsistency plaguing those around him, this may be Nissanka’s biggest test yet.
Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup group matches
- February 8 — Ireland, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
- February 12 — Oman, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
- February 16 — Australia, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
- February 19 — Zimbabwe, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
Romario Shepherd
Age: 31
Team: West Indies
Role: Right-arm fast bowler/right-handed batter
T20I career: 74 matches; 829 runs, HS 49, average 26.74, SR 144.17; 75 wickets, BB 4-31, average 28.53, economy 10.01, 1 x 4w
T20 career: 227 matches; 2,465 runs, HS 73 not out, average 24.40, SR 156.60, 6 x 50; 206 wickets, BB 4-13, average 26.69, economy 9.22, 2 x 4w
The prototype modern T20 all-rounder, Romario Shepherd is a 6ft 5in (195cm) Guyanese giant who can smoke the ball out of the ground every time he middles it when batting lower down the order, and provide crucial overs through the middle or at the death.
Others might have better rates of success, with methods that translate across conditions and oppositions, but few can have as immediate an impact. Shepherd specialises in brief, devastating innings in the death overs. His T20 balls-per-boundary ratio of 4.64 speaks to his ball-striking ability, one of the most valued skills in the shortest format.
He has developed death-bowling prowess, too, much of which he owes to former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo, who has worked with him to generate dip on his slower balls, deceiving batters in the air. He has also worked on creating difficult angles from around the wicket, making it harder for batters to attack him, and rediscovered his back-of-the-hand slower ball — one he used at under-19s level.
West Indies’ Romario Shepherd pulls against New Zealand (Sanka Vidangama/AFP via Getty Images)
Shepherd’s turbulent Indian Premier League journey eventually landed him at the right home with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, where he helped them to the title last season.
He single-handedly won a match against Chennai Super Kings with one of the most staggering fifties in tournament history: 14 balls, including 33 runs off Khaleel Ahmed’s 19th over alone. He arrived at the crease after 17.4 overs — nobody in the 18 years of IPL cricket has made a fifty coming in as late as Shepherd did that day.
At the previous T20 World Cup two years ago, Shepherd started all four group matches and the first Super 8s game against England, before being dropped for the final two. West Indies’ Super 8 exit left unfinished business. Back then, he was in the squad primarily for his pace bowling. This time, it is his batting that is at the forefront of the selection.
West Indies’ T20 World Cup group matches
- February 7 — Scotland, Eden Gardens, Kolkata
- February 11 — England, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- February 15 — Nepal, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- February 19 — Italy, Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Noor Ahmad
Age: 21
Team: Afghanistan
Role: Left-arm wrist-spinner
T20I career: 24 matches, 20 wickets, BBI 4-10, average 26.35, economy 7.12, SR 22.2, 1 x 4w
T20 career: 194 matches, 229 wickets, BBI 5-11, average 21.97, economy 7.29, SR 18.0, 6 x 4w, 2 x 5w
Noor Ahmad has long been touted as Afghanistan’s next generational spinner, following in the footsteps of their current T20 captain Rashid Khan.
Ahmad made his first-class debut aged just 14 and his T20I debut at 17, immediately announcing himself with four wickets and the player of the match award against Zimbabwe in June 2022. While the next-generation tag was warranted, it may now be his time to take centre stage.
He carries the stamp of approval from MS Dhoni, whose track record with spinners speaks for itself. Following Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir and Maheesh Theekshana, he now leads the spin attack for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL after being bought for around £920,000 ($1.25m at the current rate) at the 2025 season’s mega auction.
This could be Noor Ahmad’s tournament (Francois Nel/Getty Images)
Noor is like-for-like with team-mate Rashid, just left-handed. That offers angles Rashid cannot provide. He mixes his wrong’uns nicely into his overs and will be a real threat on subcontinental pitches. Rashid remains his mentor. “Whenever I have questions, or want to chat, or need to share with someone, Rashid is the first person for me to go to,” Noor told ESPN Cricinfo last year.
His franchise credentials are impeccable: 16 wickets for Gujarat Titans during their run to the 2023 IPL final, and 24 in 14 games for Chennai in IPL 2025, finishing as the tournament’s second-highest wicket-taker.
With Rashid shouldering the burden of captaincy at this tournament, and drawing the attention of opposition batters, Noor could prove even more lethal if they choose to target him instead. At such a young age, his ceiling remains tantalisingly high.
Afghanistan’s T20 World Cup group matches
- February 8 — New Zealand, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- February 11 — South Africa, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
- February 16 — United Arab Emirates, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
- February 19 — Canada, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Finn Allen
Age: 26
Team: New Zealand
Role: Right-handed batter
T20I career: 53 matches, 1,365 runs, HS 137, average 26.25, SR 165.45, 2 x 100, 6 x 50
T20 career: 173 matches, 4,961 runs, HS 151, average 30.06, SR 175.23, 5 x 100, 32 x 50
Finn Allen bats like no New Zealander before him.
The records back it up: the highest individual T20I score by a Kiwi (137 off 62 balls against Pakistan), the joint world record for most sixes in an innings (16), and a strike rate of 165.45, the highest among New Zealand batters. Globally, nobody with 1,000 balls faced strikes it harder.
Allen declined a central contract in August 2024 to pursue franchise opportunities, a decision that created tension with New Zealand Cricket but allowed him to hone his game against pace and spin on different pitches and in different conditions.
In MLC 2025, playing for San Francisco Unicorns, he struck 333 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 225.00, including 151 off 51 balls with a world-record 19 sixes. He was recalled for this World Cup last month, and alongside Tim Seifert, has rejuvenated the New Zealand side with the sort of fearless batting they are not usually known for.
The destructive New Zealand opener Finn Allen (R. Satish Babu/AFP via Getty Images)
A foot fracture sidelined him in the second half of 2025, but Allen returned for the Big Bash League with Perth Scorchers. He finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 466 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 184.18, including a century and two fifties, helping Perth to the title a couple of weeks ago. His 37 sixes were the most by any batter in a single BBL season.
Allen has credited his form to clarity of mind and to working hard on being still at the crease with a stable base. It has yielded results. He played just one match in the recent series with India but made it count: 80 off 38 balls at a strike rate of 210.53, including the fastest fifty by a New Zealander against India (22 balls), becoming only the fourth player to score a powerplay fifty against India in T20Is.
New Zealand’s T20 World Cup group matches
- February 8 — Afghanistan, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- February 10 — United Arab Emirates, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- February 14 — South Africa, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
- February 17 — Canada, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Tim David
Age: 29
Team: Australia
Role: Right-handed batter
T20I career: 68 matches, 1,596 runs, HS 102 not out, average 36.27, SR 168.88, 1 x 100, 9 x 50
T20 career: 313 matches, 6,136 runs, HS 102 not out, average 30.98, SR 162.45, 1 x 100, 22 x 50
Not a batter to nudge and nurdle, Tim David is a 6ft 5in (196cm) right-hander who deals largely in boundaries — and few in world cricket hit them as cleanly and as often.
He began his international career with Singapore, where he was born, before qualifying for Australia through residency in the early 2020s, a switch that unlocked his talent and potential at the highest level.
Last July, he smashed Australia’s fastest T20I century: 102 not out off 37 balls against West Indies in St Kitts, a knock featuring 11 sixes and six fours. It was the joint third-fastest T20I century in matches between full ICC member nations. That innings, which came after he was given greater freedom higher up the order, underlined his growing appetite for bigger scores rather than late-order cameos.
He raced to fifty in just 16 balls that day, also an Australian record, highlighted by four consecutive sixes off Gudakesh Motie in a 28-run over.
Tim David batting for Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL in December (Steve Bell/Getty Images)
David’s IPL journey was initially turbulent. Between 2022 and 2024 with Mumbai Indians, he averaged 27.7 across 29 innings at a strike rate of 158 with no fifties. Then Royal Challengers Bengaluru bought him for £242,000 at the 2025 auction, promoted him to No 5 in the order, and everything changed. He scored 187 runs in nine innings at an average of 62.33 and a strike rate of 185.14, including his maiden IPL fifty.
He carried that form into international cricket, dominating South Africa with 150 runs in three T20Is weeks after that record-breaking knock against West Indies.
A hamstring injury in the recent BBL was a setback, but selectors have backed him for the World Cup. David is capable of changing a game within a couple of overs. Teams will be wary; this time, he arrives as one of the experienced heads in the Australia squad.
Australia’s T20 World Cup group matches
- February 11 — Ireland, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
- February 13 — Zimbabwe, R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo
- February 16 — Sri Lanka, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
- February 20 — Oman, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy
Dewald Brevis
Age: 22
Team: South Africa
Role: Right-handed batter
T20I career: 22 matches, 490 runs, HS 125 not out, average 25.78, SR 171.32, 1 x 100, 1 x 50
T20 career: 127 matches, 3,033 runs, HS 162, average 28.88, SR 154.27, 3 x 100, 13 x 50
They call him “Baby AB” after his idol AB de Villiers, and the comparison fits. Dewald Brevis is South African cricket’s most exciting young talent, a right-hander with a six-hitting option for every ball and a central figure in their T20 World Cup ambitions.
Brevis announced himself at the 2022 Under-19 World Cup, scoring 506 runs in six innings to break Shikhar Dhawan of India’s record for the most runs in a single edition of that event and claim Player of the Tournament.
His T20 exploits have been even more striking: his 162 off 57 balls for Pretoria’s Titans in the October of that same year, the highest T20 score in South African history, was the fastest 150 in T20 globally (52 balls). At 19 years and 185 days, he became the youngest South African to reach a T20 century.
Dewald Brevis is one of the world’s elite T20 batters (Phill Magakoe/AFP via Getty Images)
Since his international debut in August 2023, Brevis has accumulated 490 T20I runs at a strike rate of 171.32, including a magnificent unbeaten 125 against Australia last August.
After struggling for IPL opportunities at Mumbai Indians, he joined Chennai Super Kings as a replacement in 2025 and delivered 225 runs at a strike rate of 180. Overall, Chennai’s season fell short, prompting a mini-auction overhaul, but Brevis was retained as a cornerstone of their middle order for next season.
Heinrich Klaasen’s retirement from T20Is last June raised eyebrows. Brevis is the reason it need not be a concern for South Africa. The transition has been seamless, and Shukri Conrad’s men will be eager to go one better at this T20 World Cup after losing to India in the previous edition’s final.
South Africa’s T20 World Cup group matches
- February 9 — Canada, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
- February 11 — Afghanistan, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
- February 14 — New Zealand, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
- February 18 — United Arab Emirates, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Harry Brook
Age: 26
Team: England
Role: Right-handed batter
T20I career: 55 matches, 1,068 runs, HS 81 not out, average 30.51, SR 152.57, 5 x 50
T20 career: 169 matches, 3,946 runs, HS 105 not out, average 33.44, SR 152.12, 3 x 100, 16 x 50
Harry Brook enters this T20 World Cup as England’s white-ball captain and with everything on the line.
The Yorkshireman was confirmed as Jos Buttler’s successor as skipper in April last year, but his first major tournament comes shrouded in controversy.
In October, Brook was struck by a nightclub bouncer in Wellington the night before an ODI there against New Zealand and was fined £30,000 by the England & Wales Cricket Board and given a final warning over his conduct. When the story broke publicly last month, Brook initially claimed he was alone at the time, then later admitted he had lied to protect team-mates Jacob Bethell and Josh Tongue, who are now under investigation by the Cricket Regulator.
Head coach Brendon McCullum defended his captain but acknowledged Brook remains a work in progress off the field.
His batting, however, speaks for itself.
Brook excels across formats, but T20 may be where his instincts are most at home — the shuffle across the crease to manufacture angles, the trigger movement baiting bowlers into pitching fuller, the reverse-scoop off pace, the flick over midwicket off spin; shots that look outrageous until the ball sails over the rope.
The responsibility of captaining the side has elevated his game and sharpened his instincts — since taking over the role, Brook has averaged 38.57 at a strike rate of 175.32, compared to 28.50 at 146.15 when not skipper.
England’s captain Harry Brook (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite the wounds of a chastening recent Ashes series that will take time to heal, Brook led his side superbly in Sri Lanka in the lead-up to this World Cup, winning both the ODI and T20 series. Team-mate and former captain Joe Root praised his leadership, and McCullum called his tactics “sensational.”
England’s white-ball future is tethered to Brook. When he flourishes, they look unstoppable. The Barmy Army will be hoping for plenty of Stone Cold Steve Austin-style celebrations.
England’s T20 World Cup group matches
- February 8 — Nepal, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- February 11 — West Indies, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- February 14 — Scotland, Eden Gardens, Kolkata
- February 16 — Italy, Eden Gardens, Kolkata
