Rising stars and key contributors: 10 players to watch at the CWC Qualifier
Away from the biggest names that have already appeared in ICC events there are some exciting players to keep an eye on as the action unfolds at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier.
We take a look at some of the players capable of lighting up the tournament:
Ireland’s big-hitting keeper-batter flies a little bit under the radar in the team’s batting line-up, but has hit a rich vein of form.
Tucker bagged two half-centuries in the warm-up matches, with 68 against USA and 74 against Netherlands carrying his good record from earlier in the year with him to Zimbabwe.
If Ireland are to make it into the top two of this tournament then expect Tucker to play a significant role.
Nepal’s teenage all-rounder is a star in the making.
The youngster picked up 13 ODI wickets to his name in his appearances for Nepal leading into the tournament, offering decent threat with his lively right-arm medium bowling.
As a left-handed middle-order batter he’s been a reliable scorer too. Averaging 34.77 prior to this tournament, he has the talent to inspire Nepal to some statement wins.
Just a year into his international career with Netherlands, Nidamanuru has been excellent value with the bat.
It’s the quality of the opposition he’s scored against in ODIs that mark the 28-year-old out as a particular talent, with notable scores coming against West Indies, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The Dutch batting order needed some fresh blood and they’ve found just that in Nidamanuru.
One of only a sprinkling of younger players in the Oman squad, the 27-year-old is a relative run-machine at the top of the order.
His ODI record before this tournament reads 699 runs scored in 23 innings at an average of 30.39.
He represents not just a big hope for Oman at this tournament but a significant part of their future plans.
Scotland’s headline-grabbing spinner is clearly Mark Watt, but he won’t be the only Scottish tweaker offering a threat in Zimbabwe.
Tahir is tough to get away and has a heap of wickets to his name in international cricket already – taking 40 in his 31 career matches leading into the CWC Qualifier. The left-arm off-spinner is a quality operator.
It was hard for Sri Lanka’s selectors to ignore the impact made by their slingy pace bowler in the Indian Premier League.
Pathirana’s brilliant IPL campaign for winners Chennai Super Kings saw him nicknamed ‘Baby Malinga’, and he got his first call-up to the Sri Lanka side in the run-in to this tournament.
His form in the warm-up matches was encouraging too, with Pathirana ripping into the USA batting order in Bulawayo.
A new face in the UAE first XI, young all-rounder Ali Naseer made an instant impact with the bat in his ODI career.
The 19-year-old hit half-centuries in each of his first two international appearances, with both knocks coming against West Indies earlier this month.
With class like that it’s going to be fascinating to see if he can add an extra sprinkling of batting quality to the UAE middle order.
He's a proper threat with the ball too, and will add a handy extra pace element to the UAE attack.
The USA have a bit of a star on their hands in young Sai Mukkamalla.
He was the youngest-ever player to score a century for USA back in March when he helped his team to a record chase against UAE.
The now 19-year-old has looked in decent nick since arriving in Zimbabwe, with a quickfire 44* against Ireland in the official warm-up game suggesting he’s ready to really announce himself on the world stage in this tournament.
A relatively young member of a West Indies squad with plenty of experience, 26-year-old Carty has shown plenty of potential without really firing yet in international cricket.
Averaging 25.50 after his 12 caps prior to the tournament, Carty has yet to reach a 50 from his lower-middle order position, but spent some good time out in the middle in the warm-up matches and could be primed for a breakout tournament.
A talented young keeper-batter, Madande’s selection would represent a changing of the guard from the experienced Regis Chakabva.
The 23-year-old looks at home in Zimbabwe colours after 10 caps across white-ball formats, excelling in an ODI series against Netherlands earlier this year and hitting consecutive half-centuries.
He showed in the warm-up fixture against Oman that he can add an extra element of power-hitting down the order, smashing 27 from 12 balls at the back end of that match.
