1) Asthon Agar – No one team will even give him a thought but Asthon Agar can be the man who can be the difference between playing semifinal and winning the World Cup.
Playing his first test match in Ashes, Asthon Agar made the highest ever individual score by number 11 as he just missed the century by 2 runs.
Number 11 sometimes can easily make quickfire 30s, 40s, but to make 98 runs at number 11 means he has got serious batting abilities in addition to his primary skill as left arm bowler.
He has an average of 32 in test matches and 25 in ODI.
Standing at 6 feet 2 inches, Asthon Agar uses his height to good use in bowling some tight lines to right handers.
Even Dhoni had troubles against left arm spinners, and left arm spin is more or like wrist spin to right handers, ball always going away from you so its always going to be difficult for right handed batsman.
He comes at number 7 and recently won the match with Marnus Lanhuscagne with a over 100 run partnership against South Africa.
If there happens a collapse in one of the World Cup matches, he can be trusted with a pronowned batsman at other hand while there are Starc, Cummins to come, the batting look never ending for Kangaroos.
Because he is not a much known player, the difference he can make in the biggest of tournaments is not visible to the teams.
No other team has such a player playing at number 7 who can bowl with such good control, but Asthon Agar is the player to look out for in this World Cup as he provides the Australia with balance other team may be lacking.
2) Daryl Mitchell – The next on the list is the most improved player in the last year is Daryl Mitchell.
Daryl Mitchell used to play some innings here and there but in the last one year or so he has taken the next level to his batting.
With 3 centuries in last 5 ODIs and 3 hundreds in last 8 test matches, Daryl Mitchell is playing with a sense of responsibility that he is Newzealand’s main batsman and with his bowling, he can also chip in with some 6 or 7 good overs.
We can just say that Kiwi have their own “Ben Strokes” and while the other teams pay all their attention to Ben Strokes, this Ben Strokes can steal the show at the World Cup.
3) Axar Patel – Cricket gurus have their concern on two similar set of players in the playing 11.
Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel both bring similar set of skills for the team.
Left arm bowling and ability to bat.
While Ravindra Jadeja has been playing for a long time its Axar Patel who has shown great potential in batting in recent times.
If we compare the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, its the Axar Patel who is better of the two, but its not about the comparision between Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, its Axar Patel who can be the x factor for India.
If Axar Patel had a good show with the bat in the World Cup in whatever chances he will get, he is definitely going to surprise teams with his performaces.
He has got the potential and he has shown in the last year, and if he can take his game to the next level in the biggest of tournament and keep his head calm in the pressure of situations, he is such a dangerous and underrated player, other teams will not be paying attention to.
4) Shaheen Shah Afridi – Finding Shaheen Afridi name here is a bit of surprise as its no surprise to no one that he is one of the best fall bowler around.
But he is just not dangerous because of his bowling but he is now equally capable in batting too.
In the 23rd match of Pakistan Super League chasing a score of 207 runs, Shaheen Afridi, the captain promoted himself to 6th batting position and he literally ran from the dressing room stopping Sikander Raza as he has the believe in him to hit those out of the park.
In 36 balls 52 run innings, he smashed 5 sixes. Now one may say that it is just one odd innings, but its not.
The sheer confidence he has in him to promote himself and stop a well established batsman to remain in the dug out and score a half century tells about the confidence he is carrying not just in his bowling, but also in his batting.
