Who will shine through?

Hamilton Masakadza

Hamilton Masakadza is a name that features prominently in Zimbabwe’s batting order. He burst on to the scene in the most spectacular fashion when he scored a century on his Test debut while studying at Churchill High School in Harare. Known for his aggressive play on the front foot, Masakadza is also quite adept at handling the short-pitch stuff as he matures with age and experience. Coming into this World Cup, Masakadza is showing impressive form with an unbeaten 117 against Sri Lanka in the warm up game and 80 from 74 balls against South Africa. Zimbabwe will hope he can carry such form throughout the competition.

Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm medium

Current ODI Ranking: 113

Highest Ranking: 87 - ( 20/07/2014 )

Highest score: 158 (Tests) 178* (ODIs) 79 (T20Is)

Best bowling: 3/24 (Tests) 3/39 (ODIs)  1/4 (T20Is)

Last three performances: 80 runs – 0/6, 117* runs, 1/3

Khurram Khan

The senior statesman in the UAE side, Khurram Khan is undoubtedly the oldest player in the 2015 Cricket World Cup. At the matured age of 43, he is playing in his first World Cup. Interestingly, he is older than his team’s coach Aaqib Javed, who played in Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup winning team. Khurram Khan is the leading run-scorer and wicket taker for UAE in ODIs, and until recently was at the helm of his national team as well. His recent form with the bat is encouraging, as he struck a fluent 86 in the warm-up match against Afghanistan. 

Batting style: Left-hand bat
Bowling style: Slow left-arm orthodox

Current ODI Ranking: N/A

Highest Ranking (T20Is): 176 - ( 21/03/2014 )

Highest score: 132 (ODIs) 31 (T20Is)

Best bowling: 4/32 (ODIs) 1/8 (T20Is)

Last three performances: 86 runs, 4 runs – 0/43, 85* runs – 1/16