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Pakistan’s Muhammad Musa and other exciting rookies to watch out for in November

Adithya Sundar

23:14 29/10/2019

All international teams have begun preparations for the 2020 T20 World Cup and in the month of November alone, nine of them will be involved in T20I action around the world.

With just under a year to go for the grand event in Australia and with so much young talent coming through the various domestic leagues, teams will look to experiment and try out new players to improve the balance in their respective squads.

Here we take a look at some of the rookies to watch out for, among those in action in the month of November:

Matt Parkinson

Team: England
Role: Leg-spinner

As Adil Rashid recovers from his injury, the newly crowned ODI World Champions might have just unearthed their next wrist-spinning prospected. Parkinson made a record-breaking debut for Lancashire as a 19-year-old when he finished with figures of 5-49. Four years later, he has been picked for England’s Test and T20I squads for the tour of New Zealand.

He has impressed in the shortest format since making his debut in the T20 Blast in 2017. No spinner has taken more wickets in the tournament over the past three seasons than his 60.

He is an old-fashioned spinner who tends to bowl slower, tosses the ball up and is a big turner of the ball.

Trivia: Matt and  his twin brother Callum Parkinson made history this year when they became the first pair of twins to dismiss each other in a first-class game during the County Championship clash between Lancashire and Leicestershire.

Tom Banton  

Team: England
Role: Opening batsman

The 21-year-old, is an exciting and fearless opener and fills in for Jason Roy. Drawing comparisons to the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Jos Buttler for his tall stature and innovative batting, Banton could be the surprise package for the visitors in New Zealand.

The former England Under-19 captain lit up the Vitality Blast this year with 549 runs at a strike rate of 161.47.  He also led Somerset to a Royal London One-Day Cup title with a century and two fifties in the knockout games of the tournament.

Trivia: The explosive right-hander will be playing alongside AB de Villiers later this year, after he was signed by the Big Bash League franchise Brisbane Heat.

Shivam Dube

Team: India
Role: Batting all-rounder

The 26-year-old was the top scorer during the India A v South Africa A series earlier this year and averaged 88.50 at a strike rate of 146.28 in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy. His 67-ball-118 against Karnataka, which was adorned with ten sixes and seven boundaries, was the innings of the tournament, .

With Hardik Pandya recovering from an injury and Vijay Shankar failing to earn the trust of the selectors, Dube has a chance to make the all-rounder spot his own in the upcoming series against Bangladesh.

Trivia: The big-hitting left-handed batsman caught the eye when he smacked five successive sixes off Pravin Tambe in a Mumbai T20 League fixture and later repeated the same feat in a Ranji Trophy game for Mumbai in December, 2018.

Muhammad Musa

Team: Pakistan
Role: Fast bowler

The 19-year-old lit up the PSL 2019 by bowling aggressively for Islamabad United with his pace hitting the high 140s. He managed to pick up eight wickets in seven matches at an average of 29.37. He has very little experience at the first-class level, playing just seven games so far in which he has claimed 17 wickets. He was also part of the Pakistan squad in the 2018 U-19 World Cup where he picked seven wickets in five games.

Trivia: Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar are his fast bowling idols and he hopes to replicate their performances and instill fear in the batsmen.

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