Nathan Coulter-Nile

Why Nathan Coulter-Nile could make a difference in your ICC Dream11 team

Nathan Coulter-Nile

The ICC Men’s World Cup 2019 is only a few days away, and fans are frenetically looking up players to pick and avoid in the ICC Dream11 team. Australia has a number of aggressive batsmen and quicks who could send ripples down the opponent’s spine, yet there is a player not many will opt for in their Fantasy team. Nathan Coulter-Nile comes cheap at only 7.5 credits, and while the users might focus on including Mitchell Starc or Pat Cummins in the team, here are a few reasons why Coulter-Nile should not be ignored.

Unheralded bowling star for Australia

Since the last World Cup in 2015, Coulter-Nile has played 17 games, picking up 32 wickets at an average of 24.81 - the best among Cummins, Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Kane Richardson, and Jhye Richardson. Though he is yet to take a 4-wicket haul in this interim, he has consistently picked up wickets match-after-match and his strike rate of 27.1 is a testimony to that. Out of the above mentioned fast bowlers, only Jhye has a better strike rate, but among the World Cup-bound fast bowlers, Coulter-Nile’s strike rate stands out.

Since the last World Cup in 2015, Coulter-Nile has played 17 games, picking up 32 wickets at an average of 24.81

Hence, if he is sending down 60 deliveries in a game, the bowler more often than not picks up 2 wickets in every match, and with every wicket getting points in the Fantasy team, wicket-takers are much sought after. Even in the last two years, Coulter-Nile has been tough to handle, with his searing pace accounting for 21 wickets in 11 games at an average of 25.76 - once again the best among the other bowlers in the Australian World Cup squad. Though he tends to be expensive on occasions and is often prone to injury, he can swing the ball upfront and can bowl the terrific yorkers at will at the death.

The conditions in England will vary, and it is his skills to adapt to every condition that makes him a cricketer worth having in the Fantasy eleven. Though he has never won a Man-of-the-Match award for Australia, he has pipped his more illustrious teammates for a spot in the squad, which indicates the kind of talent that he possesses. He is likely to partner Starc at the death, and if he can bowl as he has been doing thus far, he will be a tough player to handle.