Ranking the top 5 opening combinations ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 ft. Phil Salt & Jos Buttler
The much-anticipated T20 World Cup 2024 is all set to be played from June 1 to 29 in the USA and West Indies. United States will lock horns with Canada to kickstart the showpiece event in Dallas.
The fans are in for closely-contested match-ups, with almost all teams having strong batting as well as bowling line-ups. Today, let's shed light on the best opening combinations among all teams ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024.
#5 Ibrahim Zadran & Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Not many would rate Afghanistan's opening pair highly, but the pair of Ibrahim Zadran & Rahmanullah Gurbaz can do wonders in the T20 World Cup 2024.
In the ODI World Cup last year, Zadran & Gurbaz stitched crucial century stands to help the team prevail over strong teams like England & Pakistan. In his last T20I, Zadran came up with his best-ever knock of 72* off 51 balls against Ireland.
Meanwhile, Gurbaz came in clutch for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2024 playoffs, returning with quickfire cameos of 23 & 39. His contribution at the top laid the foundation to help KKR secure a title trophy.
#4 Brandon King/Shai Hope & Johnson Charles
The co-hosts, West Indies have put together a strong squad to stake a claim for the third T20 World Cup title. Veteran batter Johnson Charles is a surety as one of the openers, while Brandon King or Shai Hope can accompany him.
In the recent T20I series against South Africa, King emerged as the best batter with 159 runs in three innings. In the final T20I, he slammed 44 and stitched a 92-run stand with Johnson Charles (69), which resulted in the Caribbean team chasing down the target of 164 in less than 14 overs.
In the warmup game against Australia, Hope (14) opened with Charles (40) to add 38 runs in less than three overs. Hope is coming into the showpiece event with a decent run in IPL 2024, scoring 183 runs at a strike rate of 150 and will be confident in his abilities.
#3 Travis Head & David Warner
A solid combination of experienced southpaws from Australia, Travis Head & David Warner, are positioned third in this ranking. They have had experience of batting together in the 2023 World Cup knockouts and a solitary game in a T20I series against New Zealand earlier this year.
The semi-final game of the 2023 World Cup witnessed the duo stitching a 60-run stand off just 37 balls. However, Warner has been going through a rough patch in the last couple of months, scoring just 168 runs for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024.
On the other hand, Head stunned the cricket fraternity with his performances in the IPL 2024 league stage. He amassed 567 runs at a prolific strike rate of 191.55 with a top score of 102. But, he is coming into the event with three ducks in the last four appearances. It will be interesting to see how this pair go through their business, but they certainly would bring fear into the opposition attack.
#2 Rohit Sharma & Yashasvi Jaiswal
One of the finest opening combinations in the T20 World Cup, Rohit Sharma & Yashasvi Jaiswal will hope to end India's ICC trophy drought, who last won the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Sharma scored 417 runs, while Jaiswal returned with 435 runs in IPL 2024. Both batters scored a century each; however, they would look to improve their consistency to help India get off to strong starts on most occasions.
The duo have added 980 runs at an average of 61.25 in Test matches. In the last three T20Is, Jaiswal has scored 132 runs, while Rohit has 121 runs.
#1 Phil Salt & Jos Buttler
The defending champions certainly boast the best opening pair of Phil Salt & Jos Buttler due to their experience and current form in the shortest format. In the recent game against Pakistan, Salt and Buttler added an 82-run stand in just 38 balls and helped the team to seal an easy chase of 158.
In nine T20I innings together, the duo have slammed 554 runs at an average of 61.55, with a top partnership of 117 against West Indies in December 2023.
In IPL 2024, Salt garnered 435 runs at a strike rate of 182.01 and helped the Kolkata Knight Riders reach the playoffs. Meanwhile, Buttler was impressive for the Rajasthan Royals, accumulating 359 runs at a strike rate of 140.78.