- Warner, Yadav and Rauf class acts
- Warner has little to beat
- Rauf's Aussie record strong
David Warner top Australia bat @ 7/4
T20 batting's Comeback King is David Warner. It was only a year ago that Warner looked a spent force in this format. He had a dreadful Indian Premier League and started the 2021 World Cup with a torturous 15-ball 14 against South Africa.
Then something clicked and he hasn't looked back. Warner smashed a fifty against Sri Lanka, Australia won the title and 2022 is now his best in terms of strike rate since 2015.
And boy do Australia need him to be at his best. Warner has very little to beat at 7/4 to take top Australia runscorer honours.
Aaron Finch, the captain, is having a prolonged battle with form that makes Warner's dip irrelevant. Steven Smith, quite rightly, is not a certain starter. Glenn Maxwell has suffered an alarming confidence crisis with no end in sight.
Indeed, the greatest threat to Warner here is a Mitchell Marsh at No 3 coming into the tournament following hip and ankle injuries. Marsh can sure play and was crucial to Australia winning in the UAE. But Warner's opportunity to bat for the most overs and in the powerplay makes him tough to stop.
Suryakumar Yadav top India bat @ 4/1
Unlike Warner, Suryakumar Yadav does have obstacles in his path. To win top India bat Yadav has to outscore KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Rightly or wrongly, for many that is the Holy Trinity of T20 rungetting.
We stress rungetting. For although the three are consistent runscorers, we don't particularly subscribe to the notion that the Big Three get those runs in the right way. Rahul and Kohli are too ponderous for our liking to fully benefit the team while Rohit has suffered a dip in form, perhaps coinciding with taking over the captaincy.
The trio may well; get solid 40s and 50s but at a strike rate lower than 130. That may be enough to justify the odds on the market, but not on India price for the outright.
In that regard, one gets the feeling that Yadav is rather raging against those imperfections. He carries this Indian batting line-up. They desperately need him to score the quick, brutal runs to get them out of hole after hole.
It's surprising the pressure doesn't take its toll. But Yadav's numbers continue to be stratospheric. He strikes at an incredible 171 in 33 matches in 2022. And in the previous four years he has never struck lower than 145.
Haris Rauf top Pakistan bowler @ 7/2
Rauf's record in Australia is superb. In 18 Big Bash matches he has an incredible 30 wickets, strongly suggesting that the abrasive surfaces suit his raw pace and ability to get reverse swing.
It is surprising that Rauf is not outright favourite on this market. Although we recognise the ability of Shaheen Shah Afridi, there has to be a doubt that he is fully fit after coming back from a nasty knee injury.
In the seven-match series against England only a few weeks ago, Rauf at times single-handedly kept his team in it.
He should be a constant menace again.
At the death of an innings, even unskilled bowlers pick up cheap wickets. Rauf will get plenty of gimmes, of course, but he will also knock over players with sheer pace and accuracy. He has a ferocious yorker and we expect him to win Pakistan more tight matches on his own.
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Cricket... Only Bettor World Cup preview Part II