ICC T20 World Cup 2024: Top five emerging players ft. Stubbs, Dube, Gurbaz, Naveen, and Axar

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The Super Eight stage of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup has concluded with India, Afghanistan, England, and South Africa making it to the semi-final.

While several big-name players like Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, Quinton de Kock, Jasprit Bumrah, Rashid Khan, Chris Jordan, Gulbadin Naib, and Hardik Pandya shone for their respective sides, many young players also shone in the Super Eight stage emerging as the new stars for their respective sides.

Without wasting much time, let's have a look at the top five emerging stars who made a significant impact in the Super Eight Stage of the ongoing tournament:

#5 Tristan Stubbs (South Africa)

Tristan Stubbs was a revelation in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League and has continued to be a pivotal figure in the Proteas' middle order scoring 61 runs at an average of 61.00 staying unbeaten against the USA and England.

The youngster also top-scored for South Africa in the crucial match against the West Indies as Stubbs scored 29 runs in a run-chase of 123 runs as per the Duckworth-Lewis Method. The partnership between Stubbs and Klaasen also helped the Proteas hasten their run-chase and achieve the required target with 5 balls to go.

#4 Shivam Dube (India)

After multiple failures on tough pitches of the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York, Shivam Dube proved why he has been picked ahead of established finishers like Rinku Singh and Dinesh Karthik.

On the spin-friendly pitches in the Caribbean Islands, Dube has contributed 72 runs off 53 balls at a strike rate of more than 135, often playing against the best bowlers between the 10th and 18th over of the innings.

#3 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Afghanistan)

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has top-scored for Afghanistan in four matches in the ongoing campaign. The rise of Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been quite evident in the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup as the wicket-keeper batter has plundered runs for the Afghans against top teams on a consistent basis.

The top scorer of the ongoing tournament, Gurbaz failed to put on runs against India but came back with a bang in the crucial fixture against Australia as he scored 60 runs off 49 balls with 4 boundaries and 4 maximums on a tough pitch at the Amos Vale Ground in St. Vincent.

While Gurbaz has been criticized for his slow-paced innings of 43 runs off 55 balls which included 32 dot balls, the 22-year-old held one end successfully till the 16th over, helping his side post 115 runs on the board which proved to be an above-par total in hindsight.

#2 Naveen-ul-Haq (Afghanistan)

Naveen-ul-Haq's stocks have risen in the last couple of years proving his mettle for Lucknow Super Giants and often being preferred ahead of an established fast bowler like Mark Wood.

Like many of his teammates, Naveen struggled against India followed by a brilliant spell of 3/20 in his maximum quota of overs dismissing Travis Head on a duck followed by the wicket of Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh. The LSG seamer also dismissed Ashton Agar to contribute in the latter stage of the innings.

The 24-year-old seamer dismissed Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shakib al Hasan on consecutive deliveries before cleaning up the tail to seal the 8-run win to help Afghanistan set up a semi-final date against South Africa.

#1 Axar Patel (India)

Not many cricket fans in India could have predicted that Axar Patel would be starting in every 2024 T20 World Cup match for India but the Delhi Capitals all-rounder has proven to be invaluable in all three facets of the game.

Against Afghanistan, Axar played a valuable knock of 12 runs off 6 deliveries in the 20th over helping India cross the 180-run mark which provided the Men in Blue with a psychological advantage. A spell of 1/15 in three overs which included the crucial wicket of Ibrahim Zadran was crucial as well for the Indian team.

Against Bangladesh, Axar had an off-day with both bat and ball in hand but the all-rounder bounced back with a splendid performance against Australia in all facets of the game.

While Axar didn't come out to bat, the southpaw came into the limelight with an eye-catching one-handed catch of Mitchell Marsh. It was followed by a brilliant two-over spell in tandem with Kuldeep Yadav as Axar conceded only 9 runs and dismissed Marcus Stoinis to tighten the noose around the Australians' necks before knocking them out of the tournament with a 24-run win.

Written by Mohak Arora, Parimatch Sports expert