The action and excitement at BBL 10 has already reached its zenith as most of the teams have played against each other once and are now competing in the return fixture for a place in the top 4. Though the collective goal is to make the team win, individually a lot remains at the stake for the players. A mind-boggling season for the respective franchise might earn them their maiden call-up to the national side. Going ahead, the player might become a hot favourite when it comes to playing in different T20 leagues around the world.
Either way, it is again for the player, who will get the requisite exposure and experience playing cricket at the highest level. Once that happens, the player is no more the man we know but gets transformed into a cricketer, who is impeccable in the respective department and across formats. Several players have impressed us so far and captured our imagination, who may well go onto making their dream debut for Australia. In the below piece, we look at 5 such players, who can make their debut for Australia on the back of their stellar performances in the league:
1. Joshua Philippe
A hard-hitter of the cricket ball, Philippe has already turned heads with his game-changing performances opening the batting for Sydney Sixers.
The wicketkeeping and astute leadership qualities are other aspects which extend the case in his favour, putting him in forefront as far as the list for probable debutants is concerned.
In the 6 games so far, Philippe has hammered 177 runs at an average of 35.40 and strike rate of 140.48. The numbers truly suit the credentials asked of a T20 batsman, who can tee off at the top and procure useful momentum early on.
2. Wes Agar
This tall medium-pacer playing for Adelaide Strikers has topped the wicket-taking charts for the time being and if he continues his consistency and happy knack of picking wickets, he may well retain it till the end of the tournament.
He is particularly suited to the T20 format and given the upcoming World Cup in India, he might work wonders bowling on the slow and dry pitches in the country.
Agar has scalped 11 wickets from 6 games at an economy rate of 8.13 and average of 17. The bowler makes up for his lack of pace with the tallness, allowing him to extract steep bounce, and clever variations to fox the batsmen.
3. Ben Dwarshuis
In the world dominated by right-armers, left-arm bowlers, even though rare, have managed to leave their impression and remain relevant. Among them ranks this quality left-arm medium pacer playing for Sydney Sixers, who has troubled batsmen with his variations and bowling tight lines and lengths.
The pacer has dismissed 8 batsmen from 5 games at an average of 18.30 and economy rate of 8.26. To add to that, he is a clean striker of the cricket ball coming lower down the order and if he happens to make his elusive debut, Australia can utilize him as a pinch-hitter
4. Chris Green
An experienced campaigner when it comes to playing domestic cricket in the country, Green eagerly waits for his dream Australia debut. A wily off-spinner, who can tong the ball long and handsome coming lower down, Green has everything in him needed to succeed at the international arena.
In the ongoing BBL 10, he has got rid of 9 batsmen from 6 games at an average of 18.70 and economy rate of 9.33, and also struck 31 runs from 4 innings at a staggering strike rate of 147.62. The growing stats only point towards his promotion to the senior side, getting an opportunity to express himself at the ultimate stage.
5. Riley Meredith
Belonging to the rare breed of bowlers, who can bowl at lightning quick pace, Meredith has been the go-to-man for skipper Handscomb in search of crucial wickets. It’s not just the pace, but the lines and lengths that he has bowled which has created some doubts in the minds of the batsmen.
He can turn out to be the ‘X-factor’ for Australia at the T20 World Cup, whose aim will be to decimate opposition line-ups and dominate them irrespective of how the pitch plays, bringing Australia closer to the trophy. The speedster has picked 10 wickets from 7 games at an average of 20.10 and economy rate of 7.44 playing for the Hurricanes BBL 10.
