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The newly reformatted T20 World Cup is going to produce a lot of potentially lopsided games in its group stage with nine associate (non-Test) nations taking part in the tournament, so opening batters will be expected to feast on some second-grade bowling throughout the first two weeks.
Before identifying three openers that I believe will get their campaigns off to a great start, there's one Afghan rising star I'm particularly keen to back for a big showing against the Blackcaps on Sunday.
New Zealand v Afghanistan, Sunday, 4:30pm AEDT
26-year-old Darwish Rasooli was an opening batter at domestic level and had to break his way into the team as a middle order player due to the incumbency of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, but he has made the number four position his own with some breakout innings against Qatar and the West Indies in the last three months.
Rasooli peeled off three consecutive half-centuries across two venues (Doha and Dubai) in November and January and will come into his second T20 World Cup feeling a lot better than after his first, when he made just one appearance (15 against Australia in Adelaide 2022).
Almost the entirety of his T20I career has been played on slow surfaces across the Middle East and Harare and now averages 35 against spin bowling in the T20I format, so the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai should be precisely to his liking.
If Matt Henry knocks the openers over cheaply during the powerplay, Rasooli could boss the middle overs and come out with Afghanistan's top score at great value.
Tip: Darwish Rasooli Afghanistan top batter - 6.50 @ Bet365
Bet explanation: Darwish Rasooli needs to top score for Afghanistan in their innings.
England v Nepal, Sunday, 8:30pm AEDT
Jos Buttler and white ball cricket has been a marriage made in heaven for many years now.
Wickets will likely be tough to come by for Nepal against England on Sunday, which is why betting sites have got English openers Jos Buttler and Phil Salt as equal favourites to top score for the team.
They've got on an even keeling England's leading run scorer in T20Is on Indian soil - Buttler with 572 runs at an average of 38.13 - and Salt, who averages just 17.40 from his five innings in India, albeit with four half-centuries in each of the last two editions of the IPL pushing Salt's credentials as a potential top scorer.
Of course, it's not just about the top two, particularly with captain Harry Brook batting himself into some good form last month, but Buttler boasts a decade of sustained success in India, and a combined total of 29 IPL/T20I innings at Wankhede Stadium to guide him through the powerplay.
Tip: Jos Buttler England top batter - 4.00 @ Bet365
Bet explanation: Jos Buttler needs to make England's highest score in their innings.
Oman v Zimbabwe, Monday, 8:30pm AEDT
Even at age 22, Zimbabwe opening batter Brian Bennett is no stranger to World Cup success, coming out of the 2022 Under-19 ODI World Cup as Zimbabwe's top tournament run scorer with an average in the 50s.
Already with 74 internationals to his name, now he is ready to tackle his first senior World Cup and this is his strongest format as far as international cricket is concerned, with a rate of 1-in-5 for half-centuries in T20Is and a career average in the low-30s.
For those who don't know of young Brian Bennett, I suspect it won't take long for the rest of the world to take notice. His astonishing T20I average of 48.85 against associate opposition proves that he belongs at the elite level, carving out seven of his ten 50+ scores against non-Test nations.
He was Zimbabwe's top scorer in four of his last ten official T20Is, which doesn't count the team-best 56 from just 28 balls he made against Oman in a World Cup practice match this Thursday.
Tip: Brian Bennett Zimbabwe top batter - 3.40 @ Bet365
Bet explanation: Brian Bennett needs to record the highest score by a Zimbabwean in their innings.
Canada v South Africa, Tuesday, 12:30am AEDT
We finish off our preview of the opening week by following the theme of in-form openers, such as Proteas dynamo Quinton de Kock who has discovered a new zest for international cricket since reversing his international retirement in October.
De Kock has arguably been the best batter in the world on the international scene since then, notching up two centuries and two fifties from just six ODI innings away to Pakistan and India, as well as a ton and two half-tons from his last five T20Is in India and at home to the West Indies.
The bulk of his batting during his comeback has taken place in the subcontinent, so he should be feeling a wealth of confidence coming into this World Cup, two years after he admittedly didn't have the best time of it in the USA and Caribbean.
But like Buttler, de Kock is another man with immense success on Indian soil, striking an astounding seven half-centuries from just 15 T20I innings in India, two of which were in December. That's on top of a 47 and a 45 at the 2016 T20 World Cup! I'm expecting him to have a day out against the Canadians here.
Tip: Quinton de Kock South Africa top batter - 4.33 @ Bet365
Bet explanation: Quinton de Kock needs to register South Africa's highest score in their innings.
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Odds correct at the time of writing, subject to change.