Importance of All Rounders

T20 is a game of small margins. A small mistake can cost you a game while a brilliant moment can help you win the game. In today’s world of white-ball cricket, the importance of utility players is increasing and mainly in T20 cricket. “Utility players would basically be all-rounders who can come in and bowl a few overs for the team but also at the same time score some quick runs for the teams”.

The longer the format is it might become more important for all-rounders to be more of a complete player and also technically sound, both with the bat and ball. But in T20 cricket the all-rounders are expected to bowl a few overs and score some quick runs. They are expected to have a short but impactful performance.

This means that in the longer format it is more of a batting or bowling all-rounder. A batting all-rounder is someone whose main role is with the bat but can bowl a few overs. While bowling all-rounder is one whose main role is expected with the bowl but can help a team little with the bat. Although in T20 cricket it is more of an all-rounder rather than batting or bowling all-rounder as it is just a few overs or some quick runs with the bat and hard to identify a player as batting or bowling all-rounder. Here are the best betting apps for Android & iOS

All Rounders help in maintaining the balance of the Team

There is a continuous increase in the amount of T20 cricket being played all over the globe. Picking the team with the right balance is of utmost importance for coaches and management. It can be for a series or for the tournament, a team with the right balance can help you win or lose matches. In maintaining the right balance of the team, all-rounders play a very important role.

The reason for that is all-rounder always gives you an extra bowling or batting option along with specialised players. For example, if a bowler is having a bad day, a good all-rounder can come in and chip in a few extra overs from his quota. In the same way, a good all-rounder can come up the order and hit some quick runs to change the momentum of the game. Since we know how important all-rounders are in a T20 game, we will look at its impact in a T20 world cup

Impact of All Rounders in T20 World Cup

We look below at the winners of each T20 world cup and who has been player of the series in the tournament and player of the match in the finals. We will analyse and look at the world cups where all-rounders have impacted the team’s performance in the T20 world cup.

  • “In 4 out of 6 editions, players of the match in the finals were all-rounders.
  • While 3 out of 6 all-rounders were players of the series in a T20 World Cup”.

In the recent editions, the player of the series was the batsman and it was Virat Kohli. An extraordinary batsman who had an extraordinary tournament.

T20 World Cup

2007 T20 World Cup

It was the inaugural edition of the T20 world cup in 2007 and the finals could not have been better. It is the biggest match in the world cricket India vs Pakistan in the finals. The Player of the series was Shahid Afridi who was an all-rounder while the player of the match was Irfan Pathan who is an all-rounder as well.

  • Irfan Pathan took 10 wickets in the tournament. He also scored an important 20 off 15 balls in the opening encounter against Pakistan. In the final, he was a man of the match and took 3/16 in his 4 overs.
  • Shahid Afridi took 12 wickets (Joint 2nd Highest wicket-taker) in the tournament. He also had the best batting strike rate of 197.83 in the tournament.

2009 T20 World Cup

It was once again an all Asian affair in the finals of the T20 world cup. Last editions Runners up Pakistan took on Sri Lanka in the final. The Player of the Series was Tillakaratne Dilshan while the player of the match in the finals was Shahid Afridi. Once again all-rounders having a big impact in the T20 world cup.

  • Shahid Afridi scored a brilliant 54* off 40 and took 1/20 in the finals to help Pakistan win the world cup.
  • Further, Afridi scored 176 runs in the tournament at an average of 35.20 and also took 11 (3rd most wickets in 2009 T20 world cup) wickets in the tournament. His all-round performance helped Pakistan to lift the trophy
  • Tillakaratne Dilshan scored the most runs in the tournament. He scored 317 runs at an average of 52 which helped Sri Lanka reach the finals of this tournament.

2012 T20 World Cup

2012 world cup final was between the T20 powerhouse West Indies and Asian powerhouse Sri Lanka. In the finals, it was an all-around performance from Marlon Samuels that helped Windies win the finals and lift the T20 world cup. While Shane Watson was the Player of the series for his all-around performance.

  • Shane Watson scored the most runs in the tournament. He scored 249 runs at an average of 49.80.
  • Watson was also the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 11 wickets and a bowling average of just 16.
  • A brilliant 78 off 56 with the bat and 1/15 in his 4 overs with the ball from Marlon Samuels helped West Indies win the finals and lift the trophy.

Unfortunately, Watson couldn’t perform in the semi-final and Australia was knocked out of the tournament. This shows how huge the impact of an all-rounder is in the team’s performance in winning the tournament.

2016 T20 World Cup

It was T20 powerhouse West Indies who took on mighty England in the T20 World Cup finals in 2016. Once again it was Marlon Samuels who was the Player of the match in the finals. He along with the help of an all-around performance from Carlos Braithwaite helped West Indies lift their 2nd T20 world title.

  • Carlos Braithwaite took 3/23 in his 4 overs and scored 34* of 10 which includes 4 sixes off the last over of Ben Stokes to win the match and the title. Once again a performance from the all-rounder having an impact on the team to win the match.
  • Marlon Samuels scored a magnificent 85* off 66 balls in the finals.

Conclusion

We can clearly say that all-rounders are the X Factor in the T20 world cup. The right performance from the all-rounder can help win the title, while at the same time a poor performance can mean a negative impact on teams performance in the T20 world cup,

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