2023 has been a great year for Sports and if we talk about cricket then there have been many instances that made the year memorable for Cricket lovers. The ODI World Cup, the World Test Championship, the Ashes, and some healthy rivalries were the main highlights of this year. Many players became the center of attention by making strong comebacks this year such as Virat Kohli, KL Rahul etc. On the other hand, Australia being Australia made us realise that nothing has changed they’ve won both ICC trophies but teams like Afghanistan, Netherlands, and Nepal have played good cricket and given us a glimpse of their success at a higher level in the coming years. Cricketers we’ve seen making strong impacts the last year and now it’s the time to look forward, in this article we’ll discuss the cricketers to look out for this year. Many youngsters have performed well at the international level and now it’s time to take a look at other young players who can make the world discuss them in 2024. Along with players who are going to cement their foot in World Cricket some players are leaving their big shoes this year. Also, many cricketers’ve entertained us throughout their careers, and now their era has ended and probably they are at the last stage of an extremely invincible cricketing career.
Youngsters to look out for
Rachin Ravindra
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One of the biggest stories of the 2023 ODI World Cup was New Zealand’s all-rounder Rachin Ravindra. He entered the team as a lower-order batting all-rounder in white ball format this year and ended the year as one of the best opening batters this year for New Zealand. He has played 25 ODI games this year where he scored 820 runs so far with three mind-boggling centuries. All three tons he scored in the World Cup and was the fourth leading scorer among every team and the first for his team. Rachin can go big next year with the bat and ball too. He potentially talented cricketer and one of the best among his age group. Rachin Ravindra is undoubtedly the youngster to look out for in the white ball this year.
Rachin made in red ball debut in 2021 but till then he has played only three games where he scored just 73 runs and took 3 wickets.
Gerald Coetzee
South African 23-year-old seamer Gerald Coetzee is the second youngster in this list to look out for in 2024. He entered the national team this year and soon became one of the go-to seamers for the captains. He debuted in all three formats for South Africa in the same year with his extraordinary performance. He was the leading wicket-taker for South Africa in the World Cup 2023 alongside one of the greatest bowlers of the modern era Kagiso Rabada. His contribution to Protea’s performance in the World Cup was the biggest. His spell in the semifinal against Australia was historical and he left his mark with the ball. Gerald has been so good this year not only for South African cricket but also for the World Cricket. Gerald could also be one of the youngsters who could reach some big milestones this year and grab the limelight.
Cricketers who are or might be retiring
David Warner
Australian 37-year-old left-handed aggressive opener David Warner has announced his retirement from test cricket after the final Sydney test against Pakistan on January 2024. He is one of the greatest Australian batters of all time in every format and soon he is going to take the leave from white ball too. In the ongoing final test series of his career against Pakistan, he scored his 26th hundred and still, there is one test match left in his career.
Warner has been a consistent performer throughout his career and at the end of the road he is still entertaining us with his appearance in the field. David Warner might retire from white-ball cricket this year, so 2024 will be a big year for not only Warner but also the Australian cricket team. He has played 111 test matches in his career and with 26 hundred and 36 fifties he has scored 8695 runs in his test career along with that he is the second leading scorer for Australia in International cricket with over 18000 runs. He is the leading centurion(49) as an opener across all international formats surpassing Sachin Tendulkar(45) last year. It will be interesting to see that is going to score his 50th century in his farewell test match.
MS Dhoni
One of the greatest captains of all time Mahendra Singh Dhoni might play his last IPL in 2024. Watching him in the field is the last thing many cricket fans would ever want and this year could be his last year in the IPL. He retired from international cricket in 2020 but actively plays in the Indian Premier League. For the last 2-3 years just before the start of the IPL, rumors have started spreading that MS is probably playing his last season but in the end, he always used to deny the news about his retirement and confirmed his appearance in the next edition. This year one more time the rumors are getting stronger day by day about his departure from the ground after the 2024 IPL and if this happens fans are going to get hurt When they realize that their favorite players, who have been the reason for their happiness and sorrow on the field for almost 20 years, will no longer be seen hitting sky-high sixes with their bat on the field.
MS Dhoni is one the most successful captains in the league with five titles and most finals.
Cricketers who could be heading toward their end
Rohit Sharma
Indian captain Rohit Sharma is the one who broke so badly after the loss of the ICC World Cup final and that affected him mentally. After the final, he played a test match against South Africa in Centurian and he didn’t look that comfortable while facing the bowlers. Rohit’s fitness is a big issue in his career and might cause him trouble in 2024. In these days of his career he is unable to stay on the crease for so long and started scoring fast runs from the beginning of the game which defines his giving up nature towards cricket and if he doesn’t get serious about his fitness his twilight stage may start soon this year.
Rohit Sharma is one of the most prominent sportspersons in India and there are people who want him to play long so that they can enjoy cricket more. Rohit Sharma has scored 31 centuries in the ODI four in the T20I and 10 in the test, his records define how big his name is but cricket is a sport and to play long you have to be firm and mentally healthy.
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James Anderson
England’s legendary seamer James Anderson is a one-of-a-kind bowler. He is a 41-year-old fast bowler still playing the longer format and killing it. In 2024 he is going to be 42 and we’ve seen in the Ashes 2023 that his age is affecting his deliveries as soon he is one year older syncing with pace and swing is going to be challenging for him. James Anderson is a fighter he defeated his age and showed the world that a seamer can also play in his forties. As soon he gets older his fitness will also be an issue for him and his team and probably he get dropped from the national team, so maybe before getting dropped he will announce his retirement.
James is the world’s third and England’s first most successful bowler across all formats with 977 wickets in 396 games. If he gets 23 more wickets before his retirement he will be joining the club of 1000 wicket takers where Sri Lankan legend Muthiah Muratharan and Australian leg Spinner late Shane Warne are already present.
Cricketers to Rule the World Cricket
KL Rahul
Indian star batter KL Rahul has made a comeback in 2023 after getting so much criticism for his bad form over the last couple of years. He has played so well in 2023 and built many great and memorable against big teams while saving his team from the collapse. He started this with a century against Pakistan in his comeback game in Asia Cup 2023 after that he won the hearts of Indian viewers by playing some great knocks in the World Cup one of them was a savior inning against Australia in the first game, after that even at the end he has delivered a speechless performance against South Africa in the first boxing day test at Centurion. After witnessing his powerful comeback I can say that he is going to come much stronger in 2024 with his bat and will be cheating some milestones.
KL is one of the most successful batters in the world and in his short career, he has broken many big records and cemented his position in the national team with his consistent performance. We hope that he will start 2024 as the way he wrapped up 2024 and this year will be the biggest year for his career.
Glenn Maxwell
Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell is an aggressive lower-order batter and part-time spin bowler. He has been playing for more than 10 years but the way he has ended 2023 is surely notifying that he is going to rule in white ball cricket this year. He made a lot of headlines by playing a world-class innings against Afghanistan in the World Cup league match and then showed the form he is in by scoring a century in a T20 match against India. Probably Maxwell is in the last stage of his career but his fitness and skills are getting sharpened like fine wine. Maxwell could be a banger next year with his performance and will be playing many memorable innings.
Maxwell shares the first position with Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav in terms of most centuries in T20 which is four for each.
Rinku Singh
Indian lower-order batter Rinku Singh made his debut at the end of 2023 and has delivered what he was expected to. He entered the Indian team with great hype due to IPL and has made a strong statement by scoring runs that he was known for. His abilities are not limited to Asian soil because he has proved that by making a strong impact in the T20 against South Africa in their home. Rinku Singh hasn’t played much cricket at the international level but he has shown his abilities with whatever he has played in these couple of months. 2024 is full of T20 cricket and Rinku is familiar with this format, he is going to create many records in the T20 World Cup and will make an important contribution to his team.
The T20 World Cup is the best platform for him to show what he is able to do in the first place and with his awesome hitting abilities in the death over he can become a nightmare for many bowlers in while ball ball format. Along with this, he has to prove himself in the ODI format before he can turn himself into an only T20I batter. He has played 12 T20 games and with an awesome average of 65.50, he has scored 262 runs.
Jos Buttler
English captain and opener Jos Buttler had a very tough last year but we know his abilities and skills of domination. He is one of the most destructive batters of the English team and is able to score in any part of the World. The way he bats in white ball format is a treat for the eyes. Jos could make a strong comeback this year and he has shown some glimpses into the West Indies. He was a World Cup-winning captain in 2022 and scored a lot of runs in the IPL the same year, he could repeat his performance of 2022 in 2024. He is one of the best white ball players as we’ve seen him batting up the order and thrashing world-class bowlers.
If he is able to gain his form back at the start of this year he is going to create many records with his bat and the world is going to witness his destruction.
Also Read: Stuart Broad and Marcus Trescothick honored in New Year’s list
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