T20 World Cup - Game Changers Ready To Strike

THE WEEK takes a look at the men who could be game changers for their teams in the T20 World Cup

- Neeru Bhatia And Anirudh Madhavan

Carlos Brathwaite, remember the name!”

This declaration from Ian Bishop during commentary was perhaps the most unforgettable line from the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup. Chasing 156 against England in the final, the West Indies needed 19 runs off the last over. Brathwaite smashed four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes’s bowling to lead his team to its second title; it is the only team to have done so.

Five years after that iconic moment at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, much has changed in T20s. Brathwaite is not part of the West Indies side that will compete at the ongoing World Cup in the UAE. Neither is an injured Ben Stokes. As far as their teams are concerned, the latter will be missed more.

The format itself has evolved in the past five years. Batsmen have become ‘batters’ and the shot-making is now different: the paddle sweep, reverse sweep and the scoop are old; Rishabh Pant’s reverse flick off a pacer or the ramp shot against the seamer’s bouncer are some of the newer, more daring shots. As for bowlers, slower balls at the death or the carrom ball for a spinner are passé; the mystery spinner, instead, is a plus to any team. While wrist spin is still in, the finger spinners, too, have made a comeback this World Cup—the prime example being Ravichandran Ashwin, who will play T20Is for India after four years.

The game changers are not only the good-old finishers at number six or the established top-order batsmen or the biggest six hitters. The past few years has seen the rise of the super specialist. Roston Chase of the West Indies, Aussie Marcus Stoinis, England’s Dawid Malan and South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi are some of the specialists who have honed their skills in various T20 leagues around the world.