CWC 2019: 3 less known players who could surprise everyone

The 12th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup is just a few days away as it is all set to kick off on May 30 with the hosts England taking on South Africa in the opening match of the tournament. Cricketing fans from all over the world are pumped for the mega cricketing event and are very desperate to watch their cricketing heroes getting back in action.

All the teams have announced their best possible squad for the tournament and all of them have quite a good mix of youth and experience in their squad. While the experienced players are expected to play a crucial role for their team, there are also some unknown players who could surprise the fans with performance.

So here, we take a look at three unknown players who could be a surprise package at the World Cup.

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#3 Avishka Fernando

Avishka Fernando

Avishka Fernando is a hard-hitting right-hand batsman from Sri Lanka who generally bats in top-order. He is considered to be the next big thing in Sri Lankan cricket. The youngster came in limelight for the first time when he got an ODI call-up for a series against Australia in 2016 without having played any first-class or List-A cricket. However, he had a forgettable debut match as he got out for a duck after playing just 2 balls.

Avishka Fernando has very impressive numbers in U19 cricket as he is the most runs scorer in Youth ODIs for Sri Lanka with 1379 runs.

As far as his international career is concerned, the 21-year-old has played 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is till date but has failed to impress with the bat. However, he has a quite impressive List-A stats as he has scored 1115 runs from 26 innings at an impressive average of 46.45 and a strike rate of 97.46 with 139 being his highest score. Fernando has 5 fifties and 4 centuries to his name in List-A cricket.

Avishka Fernando is expected to open the batting for Sri Lanka at the World Cup 2019. Considering his potential and flat pitches of England, he could surprise the fans with his hard-hitting batting in the tournament.

#2 Hazratullah Zazai

Hazratullah Zazai

Hazratullah Zazai is a devastating left-hand batsman from Afghanistan. For a country best known for its spinners, Zazai is an amazing batting prospect. The 21-year-old shot to prominence when he scored two consecutive blistering fifties in just his second and third T20I of his career.

It was just a beginning for the left-handed batsman as he later struck six sixes in an over in the very edition of the Afghanistan Premier League and equaled Yuvraj Singh's record of 12-ball fifty in the same match.

In February 2019, the southpaw again made the headlines when he slammed 162 off just 62 balls in just his fifth T20I and became the second highest individual scorer in the format. The knock helped Afghanistan to put up a record total of 278 on the board which is the highest ever total in all T20s.

As far as his ODI career is concerned, he has played 8 matches in the format till date but hasn't been as impressive as T20Is. He has scored just 183 runs from the 8 innings with the help of a half-century.

Although Hazratullah Zazai hasn't done anything special in ODIs yet, he has the potential to do well in ODIs too. He could be a surprise package at the World Cup if he performs as per his reputation and the English pitches will also suit his batting.

#1 Rassie van der Dussen

Rassie van der Dussen

Rassie van der Dussen is an attacking right-handed batsman from South Africa who plays for Lions in domestic cricket. The 30-year old is one of the most unfortunate cricketers in South African cricket as hasn't got enough chances to represent his nation at the international level despite being a consistent performer in the domestic circuit.

Better late than, he made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in October 2018 and slammed an impressive half-century on debut. Later in January 2019, he had a magnificent ODI debut against Pakistan as he scored 93 in the match but was unfortunate to miss on a hundred.

In his very short international career, van der Dussen has been very impressive. The Protea batsman has scored 353 runs from 8 ODI innings at an astonishing average of 88.25. Meanwhile, he has hit 4 fifties.

Rassie van der Dussen is expected to bat in middle-order for Proteas in the World Cup. It will be worth watching him at the World Cup 2019.