One of the most exciting new talents to emerge from Afghanistan's cricket programmes in recent years, intrepid opening batsman Usman Ghani was good enough to play one-day international cricket for Afghanistan well before his 18th birthday. Ghani was also good enough to race to a century in his fourth ODI, against Zimbabwe, still aged 17. He started 2014 as part of the Afghanistan Under-19 team that defeated Australia and Sri Lanka in the Under-19 World Cup, and ended it as a member of the squad for Afghanistan's first full World Cup campaign. He warmed up for the tournament with a match-winning hundred against an Auckland team that included Kyle Mills and Mitchell McClenaghan.
Liam Brickhill