The eighth edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 World Cup is set to begin in less than 10 days' time where Australia will be defending their crown on home soil.
Just like every edition of the mega-event, this year will also feature some of the brightest young talents from around the world who will be announcing themselves on the global stage.
We are bringing you a list of five of those players who are young and relatively inexperienced but still have the ability to win crucial games for their respective countries.
First on the list features Pakistan's young fast-bowler Naseem Shah. The right-arm pacer has been a real sensation in T20Is after making his debut in the Asia Cup because of the absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi. Since then, Shah cemented his place in the starting XI as a new-ball specialist and produced numerous good performances in the early part of the innings. With an ability to bowl in excess of 150 kph, Shah is definitely a youngster to watch out for, especially in conditions Down Under where the seamers always find more assistance.
Second in the list features India's left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh. The 23-year-old has recently burst onto the scene after impressive performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Kings XI Punjab franchise. In his short T20I career, Singh has already 19 wickets in just 13 appearances but that does not tell the full story. The most impressive aspect of Singh's bowling is his ability to bowl yorkers at will at the backend of the innings. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who has been ruled out of the competition because of a back injury, team India will be heavily relying on the youngster to help the side in restricting the opposition.
Third in the list features England's middle-order batter Harry Brook. The right-hander is one of the most highly-rated youngsters in the world of cricket when it comes to T20s. The Yorkshire-born showcased his class in the recent seven-match series against Pakistan where he finished as the leading run-getter for the visitors with 238 runs at an outstanding average of 79.33 along with the strike-rate of 163.01. Those performances were a reminder of why he is termed the future of England batting in white-ball cricket and he will definitely have an impact on the proceedings in the upcoming mega-event.
Fourth in the list features Sri Lanka's right-handed batter Pathum Nissanka. The 24-year-old is relatively young in international cricket but has showcased his class already in different formats. In the T20Is, Nissanka has an impressive average of 29.66 and strike-rate of 115.58 in 28 innings where he registered seven half-centuries. With the Islanders set to play the qualifying round to book their place in the Super 12s, they will be hoping for a lot of good performances from Nissanka, especially looking at the fragility in the batting order.
Last in the list features Afghanistan's top-order batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The 20-year-old is one of the most exciting youngsters around with his ability to take any bowling on at the start of the innings. Despite being so young, Gurbaz has already played 32 T20Is for the national team where he has managed to score 828 runs at an average of 25.87 along with the strike-rate of 138.46, which included five fifties. Since Afghanistan are placed in an extremely tough group alongside reigning champions and host Australia, the last edition's runners-up New Zealand and one of the tournament favourites England, the management will be hoping that their star player will give the side a brisk start to help in posting a competitive total.
