5 Batsmen Who Will Set the 2016 ICC World T20 Alight

With the main stage of the ICC World Twenty20 fast approaching, many of cricket's biggest hitters will soon be strutting their stuff and trying to smash longsuffering bowlers into the stands.

Of course, some of these destructive batsmen are already household names; Think Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, David Warner, Alex Hales, Shahid Afridi, etc.

But who are the next potential T20 superstars in waiting? Which players are ready to emerge from the shadows and put their names up in lights in India?

Here are five batsmen who aren't quite as well known as the men listed above but could be soon if they perform over the next few weeks.

Please note, the players are ranked in loose ascending order based on the likelihood of them making a breakthrough.

T20 innings: 39

Runs: 942

Strike rate: 127.29

In Hardik Pandya, India have a potential new superstar, who could light up the World T20 if he can handle the pressure.

The 22-year-old is a genuine all-rounder and tends to bat in the lower-middle order, but as his strike rate of over 180.64 at 2015's Indian Premier League showed, he's clearly capable of hitting a long ball.

While he hasn't had much chance to bat at international level yet, a 12-ball 27 against Sri Lanka and an 18-ball 31 versus Bangladesh recently only served to increase the hype.

What's more, given that Pandya has, at times, even been promoted to come in at the end of an innings above MS Dhoni, his colleagues clearly rate him, too. Watch this space.

T20 innings: 64

Runs: 1,168

Strike rate: 121.54

England's secret weapon, Sam Billings has yet to fully arrive on the international scene, but his blistering 53 from just 25 balls against Pakistan in November hinted at greater things to come.

And what better place than the World T20 to make a major breakthrough?

Billings is the sort of batsman who gives opposition captains nightmares, using an array of innovative strokes to hit the ball into unusual areas and usually at great velocity.

Throw in the 24-year-old's skills in the field and behind the stumps, and England could have a potent weapon on their hands.

T20 innings: 91

Runs: 1,970

Strike rate: 149.01

Having made his first-class debut in 2006, it has taken some time for Colin Munro to hone his rope-clearing skills to international class but, as Sri Lanka will testify, he certainly has now.

During a T20 International at Auckland, the 28-year-old savaged the beleaguered opposition's attack by striking a staggering 14-ball half-century that included seven maximums.

The innings was the fastest T20 50 by a Kiwi and, for good measure, he followed it up a few days later with a relatively pedestrian 25-ball half-century.

While some of his more illustrious colleagues will attract the major headlines, expect the big-hitting Munro to travel under the radar and surprise an unsuspecting World Cup opponent or two.

T20 innings: 42

Runs: 1,253

Strike rate: 123.57

If he can maintain his incredible recent run of red-hot form, Usman Khawaja could be one of the World T20's big winners.

The silky left-hander recently blasted 345 runs in the Big Bash League from just four innings at a strike rate of over 163, which included a match-deciding 70 in the final.

Additionally, Khawaja has registered an impressive four tons in his last eight Test innings for Australia, so clearly the confidence is flowing.

If he hits the ground running, then a few Indian Premier League teams may come to regret not picking up the 29-year-old in this year's auction.

T20 innings: 97

Runs: 2,933

Strike rate: 135.03

Fair enough, he's hardly an unknown quantity, but there is a feeling that South Africa's Quinton de Kock is about to explode into cricketing superstardom.

At the age of just 23 years old, the wicketkeeper-batsman already has 90 international caps to his name but, until a few months ago, he'd struggled to live up to the hype.

That changed with the recent visit of England, where he contributed a flurry of runs including three ultra-stylish tons, seemingly indicating he's ready for the big time.

The strokemaker has yet to register an international T20 half-century, but expect that record to change over the next few weeks.