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Follow UsForget India, Deepti Sharma is arguably the most in-form player in the entire world heading into this T20 World Cup.
Since June, Deepti is averaging a staggering 212.00 with the bat. All these runs came in the 2024 edition of The Hundred, where she was one of the standout batters in the tournament: she struck at 132.5, was dismissed only once the entire tournament and fittingly led her London Spirit side to the title by hammering a six.
If we are to include her batting numbers for the entire year, then the left-hander has amassed 556 runs at an average of 92.66 and strike rate of 129.3.
If you think this is impressive, wait till you hear her bowling numbers.
In the last four months, on top of her ridiculous batting numbers, the 27-year-old has taken 21 wickets at an economy of 6.3. India might have fallen short in the the Asia Cup but Deepti was the best bowler in the entire competition, taking 10 wickets at a stupendous economy of 5.00.
Deepti is effectively two players in one; a genuine batter AND a genuine bowler. She will unquestionably be India’s trump card as they aim to win their maiden World Cup title.
Australia - Annabel Sutherland
That Deepti did not win the Player of the Tournament award in The Hundred was due to Annabel Sutherland, who took 10 wickets at an economy of 4.53 with the ball and scored 212 runs at an average of 35.33 and strike rate of 137.66 with the bat.
Australia have a plethora of x-factor players and match-winners in their squad; it speaks volumes of Sutherland’s talent and ability that she will enter the tournament as the most in-form player among all the gargantuan names.
Like Deepti, Sutherland has racked up world-class numbers on both fronts, individually, heading into this World Cup. Since June, the 22-year-old has scored 222 runs at an average of 31.71 and strike rate of 138.8 and has taken 14 wickets at an economy of 5.00.
In the recently concluded T20I series against New Zealand, Sutherland did not get many opportunities to bat but was still one of the pick of the bowlers, taking four wickets at an economy of 5.90.
Watch out for this gun all-rounder when Australia play; she is bound to be one of their biggest threats.
Dismissed for under 25 just once in her last seven T20 innings, and not dismissed at all in four of those innings — in consecutive games — with her numbers during this period reading 188 runs at an average of 62.66 and strike rate of 132.4.
Yep, it’s fair to say Marizanne Kapp will enter this T20 World Cup in some truly incredible form with the bat in hand.
South Africa’s skipper Laura Wolvaardt herself has been in great form since June — 371 runs at an average of 30.91 and strike rate of 136.4 — but Kapp’s red-hot run makes her South Africa’s trump card heading into the mega event.
But wait, there’s more.
In the last three months, among all active South African cricketers, nobody has taken more wickets than Kapp (13). Her economy during this period is 5.6, and she will enter the T20WC, having taken seven wickets across her last four T20s.
In the only T20I she played against Pakistan, Kapp opened the bowling for South Africa and returned figures of 4-1-22-2, setting the tone for a choke in the second innings.
Marizanne Kapp is the real deal. No cap.
Brace yourself for this next statistic.
In the last 120 days, Hayley Matthews has scored 334 more runs than any other West Indian in T20s and has also taken 11 more wickets than any other cricketer from the Caribbean Islands.
That’s partly because she has played eight more games during this period than any other compatriot of hers, but these are still truly outrageous numbers.
The Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) was the last tournament Matthews played and there, she took 11 wickets — the highest in the tournament — at a sublime economy of 4.6.
The 26-year-old was also the second-highest run-getter in the competition, smashing 147 runs at an average of 49.00.
In August, across The Hundred and WCPL, Matthews went on a five-match streak in which her scores read 35, 35*, 22, 61* & 67*.
Really, stop her if you can!
A total of 20 women have scored over 600 runs so far this calendar year in T20s. Among them, nobody has a better average than Heather Knight’s 47.18, and only Shafali Verma and Nat Sciver-Brunt have a better strike rate than the England skipper’s 133.6.
This alone should tell you everything you need to know about the stupendous form Knight has been in all year.
The numbers get even better if you narrow it down to the last three months. Since June, Knight, in all T20s, has amassed 505 runs at an average of 50.5 and a strike rate of 135.8.
During this period, she has represented three sides — London Spirit, Western Storm & England — and has averaged over 45.00 for all three teams.
With her average for England in WT20Is reading 43.77 since December 2023, the England skipper will be a favourite to lead from the front with the bat for her side.
You might have been expecting either Chamari Athapaththu or Harshitha Samarawickrama here. To be fair, both of these players had a solid case to be on this list.
But Kavisha Dilhari, who debuted in international cricket in 2018 at the age of 16, has been on an absolute tear of late.
The all-rounder, who is still just 23, was Sri Lanka's highest wicket-taker in their successful Asia Cup campaign, taking 9 wickets at an economy of 12.33 and 6.16.
What’s been remarkable is that Kavisha has complemented these great figures with match-winning showings with the bat in hand.
Since June, batting in the middle-order, she’s scored 161 runs at an average of 32.2 and strike rate of 120.2. The 23-year-old will enter the T20WC, having posted scores of 51* off 48 and 30* off 16 in two of her last three knocks in T20Is.
This Sri Lankan side is much more than just Chamari’s batting. Kavisha is proof of the same.
Fatima Sana started the calendar year 2024 off with three consecutive golden ducks. In the midst of that horror run, she would have been more than content to just get a few runs under her belt.
But cricket is a funny game, so just five months after the said horror run, the 22-year-old will be entering the forthcoming T20WC as Pakistan’s most in-form player.
Sana, who has started to ace the role of the finisher batting between No.5 and No.7, has struck 146 runs across her last five innings at a remarkable strike rate of 150.5.
Pakistan might have lost four of their last five T20Is but Sana’s scores in these games read 27 (17), 37* (23), 37* (24), 23* (17) & 22* (16).
In the recently concluded South Africa T20Is, which Pakistan lost 2-1, the 22-year-old was the standout batter not just for her side but in the entire series, being the only batter to score over 100 runs in the series. Across the three T20Is, she hammered 101 runs at an average of 101.00 and strike rate of 157.81.
It’s Sana’s bowling that thrust her into the spotlight at a very young age, but her batting has hit new heights. It’s what is set to make her one of Pakistan’s trump cards in this T20WC.
Bangladesh might have lost 10 of the 12 T20Is they’ve played in 2024, but their skipper Nigar Sultana has still managed to maintain really high standards, which is why she will enter the mega event as their most in-form player, and by quite a distance.
In T20Is in 2024, only one Bangladesh batter averages more than 23 — that’s Sultana, who has amassed 330 runs at an average of 41.25.
After a strong start to the year, she had a couple of failures towards the end of the India bilateral series but made up for it with a superb Asia Cup, posting scores of 32, 62* & 48* in her three knocks in the competition.
Both Rabeya Khan and Nahida Akter have had a really good 2024 with the ball in hand, but it goes without saying that Sultana will be Bangladesh’s biggest threat in the mega event.
2024 has been a truly horrendous year for New Zealand in WT20Is: they have played 13 games and have lost 12, with their only victory coming against England back in March.
Understandably, the numbers of their players have been pretty poor due to the same reason. But one player has stood out amidst the mess, and that’s Amelia Kerr.
In all T20s, among all New Zealanders, she is both the highest run-getter and the wicket-taker, and it’s not even close.
In all T20s in 2024, Kerr has averaged 38.52 with the bat and has taken 38 wickets at an economy of 7.00 with the ball in hand.
The concern for the White Ferns is that even Kerr’s form has been patchy of late, with her taking just 8 wickets in her last 8 games while averaging 17.25 with the bat.
Even with numbers like these, though, Kerr is still, on current form, the joint-highest wicket-taker for the Whiteferns since June and the third-highest run-getter.
Imagine being your country’s best batter and bowler while being the captain of the team. Well, that’s just a normal day in the life of Kathryn Bryce.
Bryce has captained Scotland in every single international match she’s played, and the 26-year-old will enter the T20WC in a rich vein of form, with her side’s hopes resting a lot on her, if not entirely.
Scotland don’t play a lot of WT20Is but Bryce is a T20 globetrotter, and so she’s scored 856 runs in this calendar year at an average of 38.90. Additionally, she’s taken 30 wickets, the only Scottish player to take 30+ wickets in the calendar year.
These numbers hold up well since June too: she’s averaged 37 with the bat and has taken 11 wickets.
Bryce had a solid Hundred season with both bat and ball, but it was in the 2024 Charlotte Edwards Cup that the Scotland skipper truly showcased her class.
There, she finished the competition as the highest run-getter with a staggering 478 runs in 12 innings, 155 more than any other player in a tournament that featured some really big names.
Bryce is the ultimate all-rounder and, quite rightly, the ultimate beacon of hope for this Scottish side.
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