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RITAM MITRA’s pick of players to watch in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020

With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup coming to Australia for, somewhat surprisingly, the first time, Australian fans will finally have an opportunity to see first-hand some of the game’s biggest stars, many of whom have never played international cricket in Australia.

As the tournament gets underway, we take a look at some of the key players to watch, including an exciting mix of carefree youngsters and seasoned veterans across a wide cross-section of teams.

Smriti Mandhana (India)

Perhaps the most elegant batter in the game, the stylish left-handed opener has been in fine form in the lead-up to the tournament. Mandhana has notched up 621 runs in 19 innings since the beginning of 2019, and was particularly impressive against Australia in both the group stage and final of the curtain-raising tri-series.

Mandhana, who played in the 201819 WBBL season, has a great depth of experience behind her in Australian conditions, despite being just 23 years old. With her rare ability to strike at a ferocious pace while maintaining her shape and form, Mandhana is our pick to be the player of the tournament.

Shafali Verma (India)

The tournament’s most exciting youngster, 16 year-old Verma – Mandhana’s partner in crime at the top of the Indian order –could well be the X-factor that sees the Women in Blue lift their first World Cup in any format.

Verma has widely drawn comparisons with Virender Sehwag, and is seen as an “atypical” Indian opener. While in the past, the Indian women’s team has produced “technical” batters with a more subtle elegance, Verma is poised to launch blitzkrieg after blitzkrieg in an aggressive brand that will put the pressure on opposition bowlers from the outset.

Danielle (England)

Wyatt was the top run-scorer in the 2019 KIA Super League, England’s franchisebased women’s T20 cricket competition. Along with Verma, Wyatt will be the most feared opening batter in the tournament, having scored at a strike rate of 166.42 in the Super League.

Crucially for England, Wyatt also scored a mountain of runs in her stint in the latest edition of the WBBL, and England will be hoping Wyatt can put behind her some very ordinary performances in the tri- series against Australia and India.

Ellyse Perry (Australia)

Probably the greatest women’s cricketer of all time, no list of women’s cricketers is complete without Perry’s.

A formidable all-round talent with bat and ball, Perry is once again shaping up as the critical lynchpin in Australia’s middle order. With Alyssa Healy’s form taking an alarming dip at the worst possible time, Australia may once again look to its most well-known and accomplished player to deliver the hosts a fifth T20 World Cup.

Sophie Devine (New Zealand)

The leading run-scorer in the 2019-20 edition of the WBBL, the newly appointed White ferns captain piled on 769 runs in her summer down under, at an average