The Indian cricket team were crowned T20 World Cup champions for the second time in history after defeating South Africa in a thrilling final at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. The 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup was a 20-team tournament, giving opportunity to the nations, including the co-hosts the USA, to participate in the extravaganza of cricket in the shortest format, for the first-time ever, who impressed everyone with their style of cricket and the subsequent results.
In this article, SportsTiger looks at the performances of all the 20 captains in the T20 World Cup 2024, giving them a rating for their leadership skills in the tournament.
Aqib Ilyas and Paul Stirling – (4/10)
Oman were the only team in the T20 World Cup 2024 to lose all their matches, and their captain Aqib Ilyas didn’t have the best of time in the leadership role or with his individual skills. Paul Stirling and his Irish cricket team had quite a poor tournament for a full member nation, not living up to their standards of performances in the recent years in all formats of the game.
Wanindu Hasaranga, Gerhard Erasmus, Assad Vala and Brian Masaba – (5/10)
Wanindu Hasaranga, the captain of Sri Lanka, brought the former T20 World Cup champions to the 2024 edition of the tournament with high expectations, but they failed to play anywhere close to their best except for their solitary win against the Netherlands in the group stage. Gerhard Erasmus and his Namibian team were put in a tough group alongside Australia, England, and Scotland, and they were unable to pose these teams much of a challenge in the tournament either.
Assad Vala-led Papua New Guinea cricket team pushed the two-time champions West Indies to their limit in the group stage, but they went on to lose all their other matches comprehensively in the T20 World Cup 2024. Uganda, captained by Brian Masaba, made history by winning their first-ever match in the tournament, at the expense of PNG, but they also suffered big defeats in remaining matches of the tournament.
Kane Williamson, Babar Azam, Scott Edwards and Saad Bin Zafar – (5.5/10)
Kane Williamson, the captain of New Zealand and his Pakistani counterpart, Babar Azam, led their teams to the finals of the T20 World Cup in the last two editions, but the 2024 edition was a one to forget for them. While the Kiwis bowed out of the tournament after losing to Afghanistan, the Men in Green suffered a shock defeat at the hands of the co-hosts the USA, which put an end to their T20 World Cup campaign as well.
Scott Edwards and the Netherlands pushed South Africa to their absolute limit in the T20 World Cup 2024, but their performances in the other matches of the tournament weren’t quite as good. Saad Bin Zafar captained Canada to their first-ever win in the T20 World Cup history, defeating Ireland comprehensively in the group stage.
Najmul Hossain Shanto, Aaron Jones, Richie Berrington and Rohit Paudel – (6.5/10)
Najmul Hossain Shanto, the captain of Bangladesh, nearly had a flawless group stage campaign in the T20 World Cup 2024, but they couldn’t replicate the same heroics in the Super 8 stage of the tournament. Monank Patel and Aaron Jones were quite exceptional as captains for the USA in their first-ever T20 World Cup campaign, dumping Pakistan out of the tournament in the group stage before nearly turning over South Africa in the Super 8 stage.
Richie Berrington and his Scottish team were quite close to reaching the Super 8 stage of the tournament, losing only one match out of four in the group stage, but their NRR wasn’t good enough. Rohit Paudel, the captain of Nepal, and his team were quite close to pulling off a massive heist in the T20 World Cup 2024 against the runners-up South Africa, but they lost the match by one run, and ended their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign without a win.
Mitchell Marsh and Rovman Powell – (7/10)
Mitchell Marsh led Australia to five straight wins in the early stage of the T20 World Cup 2024, but in the crunch matches against Afghanistan and India, the team lost in a one-sided manner to bow out of the tournament before the knockout stage. West Indies, the co-hosts of the T20 World Cup 2024, were captained well by Rovman Powell, but in the big matches, the former two-time champions lost to England and South Africa, to get eliminated from the tournament before reaching the semifinals.
Jos Buttler and Rashid Khan – (8/10)
Jos Buttler and his England team, who were the defending T20 World Cup champions before going into the 2024 edition of the tournament, fought against adversity to make the semifinal, but India were too strong for them in the knockout match. Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan cricket team scripted history in the T20 World Cup 2024, taking the team to their first semifinal of the tournament after showing the exit door to Australia and New Zealand, but they lost the one-sided knockout match against South Africa.
Aiden Markram – (8.5/10)
Aiden Markram captained South Africa to their maiden World Cup final in men’s cricket, winning eight matches in a row enroute to the summit clash. But, in the final against India at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados, they fell short in the last over, losing the chance to grab hold of the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy by just seven runs.
Rohit Sharma – (9.5/10)
Rohit Sharma made history by becoming only the second Indian captain after MS Dhoni, to lead the team to the T20 World Cup triumph. At one stage during the final of the T20 World Cup 2024, India were down and out, but he managed to galvanise his teammates into turning the situation on its head, ensuring that the team ended their 11-year ICC trophy drought.