Captains have a crucial role to play when it comes to cricket. Regardless of their importance as players, the skipper is primarily in charge of picking the playing XI, and his choices on the pitch often impact the outcome of a game. Let's take a look at six captains who could have an impact on the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022. Six captains who can make an impact in the 2022 Twenty20 World Cup The 16 captains who will compete in the T20 World Cup 2022 each have a great responsibility, but some of them are better than others. Let's take a closer look at six captains that have the ability to create an effect both through their performance and leadership ability. Read: ‘We need to improve’, Shakib says after another batting disaster Aaron Finch (Australia) T20I Inn: 98 | Runs: 3000 | HS: 172 | SR: 144.36 | 100s: 2 Australia won their maiden T20 World Cup under Aaron Finch’s captaincy in 2021 in the UAE. He is Australia’s longest-running captain since 2014. Under his leadership, the Australian men’s T20I side has won 30 matches with a 55.79 percent. Finch is also the country's highest run scorer in the shortest format. He has 3,000 runs to his name with a magnificent 144.36 strike rate. There is no question about Finch’s ability as a leader, and he will surely make a difference as a top order batter during the competition. If things go well, it will be difficult for others to stop Australia from winning back-to-back titles. Jos Buttler (England) T20I Inn: 87 | Runs: 2295 | HS: 101* | SR: 143.97 | 100s: 1 Perhaps England’s best-ever white-ball batter is Jos Buttler. He was appointed as the permanent limited-overs captain for the English national side earlier this year. Buttler has yet to flourish as a skipper in the T20 format, winning 6 out of 12 matches. However, captaining the England side is not as complicated as other cricketing nations. The players are well aware of their respective roles and try to perform accordingly on the field. What Buttler needs is to make the right decision on the field and fulfill expectations with the bat. The right-handed batter is more than capable of meeting the English dressing room expectations of winning their second World Cup trophy in the T20 format. Read: Will Bangladesh’s brand of T20 cricket work in New Zealand? Rohit Sharma (India) T20I Inn: 134 | Runs: 3737 | HS: 118 | SR: 140.59 | 100s: 4 The BCCI made the right decision by appointing Rohit Sharma as a permanent captain of Team India across all formats, replacing Virat Kohli earlier this year. The Rohit-led team won six straight bilateral T20I series before their disappointing outing in the Asia Cup 2022 in the UAE. Surely, India will rectify their Asia Cup mistakes during the Twenty20 World Cup as Rohit knows what it takes to win big events. Under his leadership, the Mumbai Indians have won five IPL trophies. Besides, he has the best winning percentage as a T20 captain for India who has led at least 5 matches. Rohit has led India to win 35 matches out of 45 with a 77.77 winning percentage. The coveted top order batter is among the top run-getters in the T20I as well. The Indian side will be hoping Rohit finds his best form during the main event to guide them to win their second trophy. Babar Azam (Pakistan) T20I Inn: 84 | Runs: 3140 | HS: 122 | SR: 130.02 | 100s: 2 One of the finest batters of this generation, Pakistan’s Babar Azam will be his side’s main hope in the upcoming T20 format World Cup. The Babar-Rizwan opening pair have scored the bulk of runs in T20Is for Pakistan since last year because their middle-order has become a non-performer in recent times. Babar has led the team very well and was praised by the cricket pundits for guiding his team to the semifinals of the 2021 World Cup. He has some quality bowlers in the squad who have the potential to defend any total. Can Babar inspire Pakistan to lift their second T20 World Cup trophy? Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) T20I Inn: 101 | Runs: 2061 | HS: 84 | SR: 120.52 | 50s: 10 | Wickets: 122 | BBI: 5/20 | Econ: 6.67 The BCB replaced Mahmudullah Riyad with Shakib Al Hasan as T20I captain just before the Asia Cup 2022. Bangladesh didn’t do well in the competition, getting knocked out in the group stage. However, Shakib got some ideas about what should be a good strategy for the T20 World Cup through this competition. As Bangladesh's team has struggled in their recent T20I outings, Shakib has a big job on hand to fix the problems and put up a fighting display against big opponents. The ace all-rounder is known to be a smart cricketer who knows how to fix a problem. Shakib probably has to shoulder extra responsibilities as a player in comparison to other captains of the competition. But Shakib has done it before whenever Bangladesh is in a difficult situation. There is no reason he wouldn’t be able to do it in the forthcoming World Cup in his quest to finish in the top half of the group stage points table. Read: At a Glance: ICC T20 Men's World Cup 2022 Venues Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka) T20I Inn: 70 | Runs: 1126 | HS: 74* | SR: 118.52 | 50s: 4 | Wickets: 20 | BBI: 3/16 | Econ: 8.13 Dasun Shanaka has been praised for his leadership ability and his performance as a player over the last one year. Shanaka has led Sri Lanka to win 17 matches out of 34. More importantly, he guided the team to win the 2022 Asia Cup Twenty20 in September, the tournament the Lankan side started as a dark horse. This Sri Lankan side will be one of the exciting teams to watch in the coming World Cup as they love to attack the opposition bowlers all the time. Besides, they have some quality spinners and their fast bowlers are impressive too. Shanaka’s decision-making ability on the field is very impressive. Besides, he is the country’s second-highest scorer this year so far, with an impressive 143.49 strike rate. Shanka can dare to dream of lifting another major trophy this year if the Sri Lankan players continue to shine the way they did in the Asia Cup. Aftermath The 16-nation T20 World Cup 2022 is scheduled to get underway on October 16 in Australia. Not every country will be aiming to win the tournament. Only five to six teams are anticipated to advance to the finals, where captains will play a crucial role.  Read: Nigar Sultana nominated for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for Sept

Pakistan are all set to take on the hosts Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series starting from Friday. Ahead of this series, Pakistan captain Babar Azam said they are looking forward to continuing their T20 World Cup momentum and forgetting the semifinal defeat to Australia. Under Babar’s captaincy, Pakistan won five matches in a row in the Super 12s stage of the World Cup but stumbled against Australia in the semifinal. Despite that defeat, Pakistan gained much appreciation from the cricketing world. “It certainly was a big disappointment to lose a game in the World Cup,” Babar told on Thursday in the pre-series press conference. “The whole team got hurt. But we are confident of rectifying our mistakes and going forward. We have faith among us.” Also read: Bangladesh v Pakistan: Young Tigers look to restore pride lost in World Cup Bangladesh are going to miss the services of Mushfiqur Rahim in this series. Shakib Al Hasan is also out of action due to an injury. Despite their absence, according to Babar, Bangladesh cannot be taken easily. “They are seasoned campaigners, and they play BPL so we cannot beat them easily,” Babar added. “We don’t want to lose the momentum that we got in the World Cup. We also have Test matches in this series. So we should not take them lightly.” While the first match of the series is on Friday, the second match will be played on Saturday, and the third and final match is scheduled for November 22 (Monday). All of these matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. Also read: Is Mahmudullah unaware of Mushfiqur’s omission? The first Test of the series will take place at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram from November 26, and the second Test will be played in Dhaka from December 4.

The three-match T20 series between hosts Bangladesh and touring Pakistan begins here Friday (November 19) at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur with Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad looking to restore pride lost in the recently concluded World Cup. The match will kick-off at 2 pm (Bangladesh time).  Local fans for the first time will be allowed to witness the match live at the big bowl since the start of the pandemic. Around 50% of tickets against the stadium’s  capacity will available for the fans and most of the tickets are already sold out.  Read:Is Mahmudullah unaware of Mushfiqur’s omission? The second match of the series will be played the very next day (November 20), with the concluding match on November 22 at the same venue.  Before this series, Bangladesh and Pakistan played each other on 12 occasions in the format, with Bangladesh winning only two of them.  When captain Mahmudullah Riyad was asked a question regarding the failure of Bangladesh in T20 World Cup at a pre-match press conference on Thursday, he appeared to be annoyed. But the Bangladesh T20I captain softly replied that he is not willing to talk more about the World Cup. It’s understandable why the Bangladesh captain is so annoyed to talk about the just-concluded World Cup— they lost six out of eight matches they played, including all five in the Super 12s phase, at the biggest stage of T20 cricket.  Bangladesh’s defeat against Scotland in the very first match of their World Cup campaign was difficult to accept for most cricket fans. They lost two warm-up matches right before the World Cup, so they needed some time to get themselves up for the main event.  But when they won their next two matches against Oman and Papua New Guinea to qualify for the Super 12s phase of the World Cup, expectations were high and the Tigers failed miserably to deliver.  “I don’t want to talk about the World Cup, we rather are focusing on the next match and on this series. It’s more important to me how much we can contribute to the team in this contest than thinking about the World Cup. Pakistan are one of the best teams in the world, so this series is going to be a tough one,” Mahmudullah said Thursday at the pre-match press conference.  Read:BAN vs PAK Series 2021: Spectators set to return to the stadium in the Pakistan Series In the mission to restore pride, Bangladesh are going to miss the services of Mushfiqur Rahim, who has always been one of Bangladesh’s mainstays in the batting line. He failed to shine in the World Cup— scoring only 144 runs in eight matches with five single-digit scores.  Mushfiqur’s omission came as a surprise to many including the wicketkeeper-batter himself. Bangladesh chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that he was rested as they want him fresh for the busy Test schedule awaiting in the coming months.  “We want Mushfiq to deliver his best in the Test series against Pakistan and New Zealand,” Minhajul told the media after announcing a new-look Bangladesh T20 squad for the Pakistan series. “We have to play successive four Tests against Pakistan and New Zealand. We want Mushfiqur to be fresh for these matches, and Tamim (Iqbal) is suffering from an injury and his participation is uncertain in these Tests. In this situation, Mushfiqur is so important for us, and this is why he was rested.” Minhajul has claimed that to make the decision of leaving out Mushfiqur, the selection panel had reflected the thought process of the team management— a claim that Mushfiqur refused publicly in interviews with the local media.  The right-handed batter said the team management didn’t talk to him about his rest. He said he is taking this move as his first omission from the team in many years, and he also added it’s a challenge for him to prove his mettle in this format. 

Bangladesh suffered a devastating innings defeat in against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Monday. The feckless Tigers lost the game by an innings and 44 runs in the morning session of day four.