Five international debutants from 2020 who have a bright future
The 2020 calendar year hasn’t been great for Cricket as it abandoned a lot of tours and interesting series including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. However, the number of matches that took place this year witnessed a lot of new players coming through ranks to represent their national team. A few of them made a promising start to their careers and are likely to achieve big things in the coming years. Here are the five players who made their International debut in 2020 and could make it big going forward:
5. Wesley Madhevere:
Zimbabwe roped in all-rounder Wesley Madhevere who made an appearance in the U19 World Cup at the start of the year. Madhevere is well known for his attacking batting and also his useful off-spin bowling too. He has played six ODIs thus far where he recorded five 30+ scores including two fifties. He also scored an unbeaten 70-run knock facing a tricky Pakistan bowling. Madhevere has been economical with the ball as well by picking three wickets across ODI and T20I formats.
4. Cameron Green:
This is gold.
Watch as Aussie young gun Cameron Green talks us through his international debut against India earlier this month #DirectHit pic.twitter.com/dmCDwflvbL
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 16, 2020
Cameron Green made his ODI and Test debut in the ongoing Australia-India series. Representing the home team, Green hasn’t been able to give sensational performances yet but is coming on the back of rich domestic performances. His debut in the Test format was confirmed after his unbeaten century in the warm-up match against the Indians. Green is known to be a reliable middle-order batsman and a pacer who could bowl at 140 KMPH as well.
3. Haider Ali:
Haider Ali got a chance to play for Pakistan after his appearance in the U19 World Cup in South Africa at the start of the year. The youngster was known for his aggressive batting which led to his selection in the T20I and ODI format. He has shown his potential in the PSL and started his T20I career with a fifty on England soil. In the few games Haider has played thus far, his strike rate is quite high but is expected to be consistent in coming years.
2. Thangarasu Natarajan:
Thangarasu Natarajan, who was picked for the Australian tour as a net bowler, got into the T20I team after spinner CV Varun got ruled out. The left-arm pacer was later forced into the ODI team as cover for Navdeep Saini. This helped him to make his ODI debut in the final game of the series after India lost the first two and played all the three matches of the subsequent T20I series.
Great debut performance from Natarajan! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/j7MvrDc4ha
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 5, 2020
Natarajan, who impressed one and all with his bowling, had an identical start to his career like Jasprit Bumrah. Both of them took two wickets on his International debut which came in an ODI against Australia followed by 3, 2 and 1 wickets respectively in the T20I series also against the Aussies. Natarajan is expected to play a crucial role in the Indian T20I side in coming years.
1. Kyle Jamieson:
Kyle Jamieson was probably the best debutant player across formats in 2020 as he made valuable contributions with both bat and ball. The tall pacer bagged 20 wickets across the four Tests he has played thus far including a 4-wicket haul and two 5-wicket hauls. In four innings he batted, Jamieson recorded two 40s and an unbeaten fifty.
Jamieson took three wickets in two ODIs he has played and even scored an unbeaten 25 and scored valuable runs down the order. The Kiwi pacer featured in four T20I matches recently taking three wickets at an economy under eight. He is likely to be the face of New Zealand’s bowling in the coming years in all formats.
