Najmul Shanto of Bangladesh

Cricket World Cup betting tips: Under the radar names to follow and pointers

By Richard Mann

12:57 · WED October 04, 2023

Cricket World Cup: Outright preview

Dunith Wellalage – Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan cricket has produced some outstanding spin bowlers over the years. Muttiah Muralitharan will go down as one of cricket’s very best, while Ajantha Mendis and his mystery spin arrived with a deafening bang before disappearing quietly.

In Dunith Wellalage, a left-arm off spinner, Sri Lanka have unveiled the next cab off the rank who took the recent Asia Cup by storm.

Wellalage finished the tournament with 10 wickets from six matches at an average of 17.90, but his big moment came against the might of India when he took out five of their vaunted top six, numbering Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli among his victims.

The 20-year-old backed that up by top scoring in Sri Lanka’s reply, making a sparky, unbeaten 42 to back up his 33 not out against Afghanistan earlier in the competition.

With the promise of so much more to come, Wellalage could be about to take the World Cup by storm, proving its breakout star, just as he did at the Asia Cup only a few weeks earlier.

Ibrahim Zadran – Afghanistan

When it comes to Afghanistan cricket, the man usually making the headlines is Rashid Khan who has become something of a global superstar in cricketing terms, especially in the Indian Premier League.

But when it comes to betting, there aren’t too many safer plays in ODI cricket right now than IBRAHIM ZADRAN in the top Bangladesh batsman market.

Though still only 21 years of age, Zadran has quickly built an impressive record, with his 19 matches in this format already yielding four hundreds and an average currently standing at 53.58.

Ibrahim Zadran

This looks to be his best format, but he impressed at last year’s T20 World Cup in Australia and has shown enough promise in five Tests thus far to suggest he will develop into a high-class, all-format batsman should Afghanistan get the opportunities.

For the next few weeks, 50-over cricket is the focus and Zadran is the perfect fit for this market – opening the batting and playing the anchor role while his aggressive and sometimes reckless teammates bat around him.

At the recent Asia Cup, he top scored in one of his team’s two matches – making a patient 75 against Bangladesh – and in his last eight innings in this format, he has added scores of 41*, 100 and 80 to that latest half-century.

Technically, he looks a looks a terrific player with options all around the ground, and though Pakistan’s fearsome pace attack troubled him with the short ball in an earlier T20I series, I’m not getting too hung up on that at this stage.

Nevertheless, fixtures against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands at this World Cup stand out as obvious opportunities for Zadran to bat long and go big, and it’s worth noting that he been going off at 7/2 in this market over the last 12 months.

Najmul Shanto – Bangladesh

NAJMUL SHANTO has quickly become the bedrock of the Bangladesh batting line-up and his absence was keenly felt when he was forced out of the Asia Cup with a hamstring tear.

Prior to that, his first two innings in the tournament saw him put together scores of 89 and 104 as he maintained his steep, recent upward curve.

It’s taken a whole for the penny to drop with this obviously gifted batsman, but 2023 has been a real breakthrough year for the 25-year-old. In 15 ODIs in that time, Shanto has averaged close to fifty thanks to two hundreds and five more half-centuries.

And when England visited Bangladesh earlier in the year, Shanto displayed his appetite for the big stage by scoring 144 runs in three T20Is to go with the two fifties he added in the three-match ODI series.

He looks a terrific player now, with a real hunger for making runs, and finds himself in a field featuring some very good batsmen, but ageing ones.

The top Bangladesh batsman market usually centres around the still very capable Shakib Al Hasan, but he always takes a good chunk of the book, as do household names Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim.

But Shanto is the emerging force in this team and with prices in the region of 4/1 still very much the norm, he is more often the bet when filling his usual spot at number three in the batting order.

Shubman Gill – India

One of the principal narratives of this Cricket World Cup is that how for many of the sport’s biggest stars, India will be their last dance in this format. Some of the greatest cricketers of our generation will wave goodbye on the biggest stage of all.

But what comes next? Who is the next great batsman, the star to shine brightest in the years to come and at the next World Cup?

Step forward SHUBMAN GILL.

Shubman Gill

The elegant right-hander is already a big deal in India, if not elsewhere, having finished as the leading runscorer in this year’s IPL and taken this format by storm. Gill has notched six hundreds and nine fifties from only 35 ODIs, and his average currently stands at a staggering 66.10.

There’s still a long road to walk, but the early signs are that we are witnessing greatness in the making, and it won’t be long before Gill is handed a regular slot in the Test team.

Gill is by no means a ODI anchor – his strike-rate is an impressive 102.84 in this format – but he rarely lets a start slip and at the recent Asia Cup, reeled off scores of 67*, 58, 19, 121 and 27*.

Against the red ball, I’ve long thought Gill to be vulnerable to the nip-backer, but his bat comes down much straighter now and at home, in India, I don’t envisage sideways movement playing too big a part in this World Cup.

With the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in opposition, bookmakers are finding it hard to price Gill short enough in the top India batsman market and as an opener who gets first swing, he remains open to serious consideration match by match.

Bas de Leede – Netherlands

Durham fans will know plenty of about BAS DE LEEDE, the Netherlands all-rounder having enjoyed a fine stint with the North East county in the County Championship this summer.

In five matches, de Leede averaged a whopping 93.00 with the bat, having made 279 runs thanks to a hundred and two fifties. Prior to that, he showed up well with both bat and ball in the T20 Blast.

Back in orange, de Leede will resume his role as the Netherlands’ premier all-rounder, generally batting in the top four and bowling first change with his fast medium.

He boasts a very respectable record in ODIs and T20Is and, in fact, his last five 50-over appearances for his country yielded scores of 41*, 33, 41, 39 and 123. He also claimed a total of 12 wickets across those matches.

Much responsibility will fall on de Leede’s shoulders at this World Cup, and for all his skills probably won’t be enough to ensure the tournament as a whole isn’t a struggle for the Netherlands, he ought to be the man to follow in any team of player performance markets.