BBL 10: Five players to watch out for in the Big Bash League
After a successful hosting of the WBBL in Sydney, Australia is now gearing up to host the Big Bash League at various venues, starting from December 10th. The defending champions Sydney Sixers will start their campaign facing the Hobart Hurricanes in the opening match at the Blundstone Arena. Due to the COVID-19 threat and the International calendar, a lot of things are expected to change regularly through the course of the tournament.
Here are the top five players to look out during the BBL 2020-21:
Riley Meredith:
Riley Meredith of Hobart Hurricanes has shown the world in the last couple of seasons about his capability with the ball. The speedster has troubled some of the best in the business with his pace and has been a wicket-taking option for the Hobart franchise. He has picked up 27 wickets across 21 T20s he played thus far at a strike rate of 16.8. Meredith, if he performs well, could get a lot of value from other franchise-based T20 leagues.
Imran Tahir:
Imran Tahir is yet to make his Big Bash League debut but is set to do so in the 2020-21 season for the Melbourne Renegades. The South African leg-spinner has got great experience by playing across the globe in the T20 leagues. The pitches in BBL tend to slow down in the second half and assist spinners. Even the Renegades’ home ground Marvel Stadium is known for providing slow tracks. Hence, Tahir’s services are going to be crucial for the Renegades who have filled their line-up with Asian spinners.
Adam Milne:
A friendly FYI to #BBL10 batters… @ThunderBBL signing Adam Milne can send it with the best of them ? pic.twitter.com/OzHMNRxEwG
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) November 1, 2020
The fast-bowlers who have the ability to bowl at high 140s are likely to be successful in Australian conditions. Adam Milne could well find success in the same way as the New Zealand pacer will be representing the Sydney Thunder. Injuries and COVID-19 pandemic did not let him play any T20 since August 2019. But since the start of 2018, he featured in 26 T20s and claimed 33 scalps. His economy rate in those matches read 7.34 despite being part of many high-scoring games.
Josh Inglis:
Josh Inglis, the opening batsman of Perth Scorchers has a chance to impress one and all with his aggressive intent. The 25-year-old got Scorchers quick starts through the previous edition with his proactive batting during the powerplay overs. During the 2019-20 BBL, Inglis scored only 407 runs at an average of 28.92 in 14 games but those came at an impressive strike rate of 153.99 with help of four fifties.
Joshua Phillipe:
@RCBTweets fans and others who don’t know much about who Josh Phillippe is and what he can do…
An opening wicket-keeper batsman, who loves to attack from ball one
Watch this (innings he played yesterday in BBL) ??
video courtesy – @cricketcomau #IPLAuction #PlayBold #RCB pic.twitter.com/T0HnhbHHI1— Anshul Gupta (@oyegupta_) December 19, 2019
A lot of expectations will be on Joshua Phillipe who is fresh off his maiden stint in the IPL. Though Phillipe hasn’t produced big returns for his team Royal Challengers Bangalore, he is likely to play a key role for the Sydney Sixers, the defending champions of the Big Bash League. During the 2019-20 edition, Phillipe created a record for most runs in a BBL edition for the Sixers with a total of 487 runs in the 16 matches played.
