As the T20 World Cup gets underway, the dominance of the batsmen is catching the attention of every cricket follower. The television commentators are more skewed towards mentioning the strike rate of the batsmen and the number of boundaries that they have hit.

Have you noticed that the number of dot balls bowled by the bowler is appearing and the number of maiden overs have disappeared! You would argue that with just four overs to bowl, 24 deliveries in all, it makes little sense to show a maiden over.

In an earlier post (Lessons from IPL 2), I had mentioned that singles are very important. I would prefer to stick my neck out and say it will be critical during the T20 Championship, particularly since it is being held in England.

Cricket has an old saying: Form is temporary, class is permanent. I don't think there is any reason to believe that it has lost any relevance. I would expect that class would be rewarded and those who have it would stand out from the heap during the ICC T20 Championship.

Here are some players who I will be closely watching for their performance.

Rohit Sharma has impressed me for one simple reason. He reminds me of Steve Waugh when he came to the Australian side in the 1980s. Cool as a cucumber and the man for a crisis! Rohit Sharma seems to have just the right thing in him to fill that role. He has already shown that he can rise to the occasion when the platform is big. To me he is the biggest star in the making.

AB de Villiers, in my opinion, stood out for the Delhi Daredevils and was one of the best batsmen in the IPL T20. Looks to be the kind of a player who would snatch a mile, if you give an inch. He is just the kind of batsman a team would want to have in a crisis or even at the top of the order. Before the opponent captain has realised, he will have knocked a few down the boundary line. What also sets him apart from the Sehwags and Clarkes is that he believes a lot in singles.

Pragyan Ojha has caught my attention for the simple reason that he has learnt to give the ball air. That is what a spinner's job is. John Emburey or Pat Pocock in the 1980s, Pat Symcox or Dipak Patel in the 1990s or even Johan Botha or the occasional dibbly dobbler Dinanath Ramnarine - none of them had the faith in luring the batsman outside his crease. So, they can never be the bowlers the captain turns to when he wants a wicket. That is why Ojha looks an exciting prospect.

Three fast bowlers will be on my radar - Lasith Malinga, Ishant Sharma and Umar Gul - not necessarily in that order. Gul already has a record to go with as the highest wicket taker during the last tournament. I suspect Ishant and Malinga will be dangerous bowlers in English conditions, particularly if their swing got some help from the conditions. And if Murali applies the brakes from one side, Malinga will be at his dangerous best.

Will I take note of Graham Napier, whose record of 16 sixes in a county match two years ago, threw him into the big league?

Bah! Ignore it if the English were to tell you that. I would rather put my money on Yuvraj Singh or Herschelle Gibbs, hitting six sixes in an over again, than bet on someone hitting sixes in the English county matches!

Disclaimer: If anything that is written above, indicates that I have made a prediction about the outcome of the T20 World Cup, please ignore. If it turns out to be correct, I may be mistaken to be someone who understands the game. I would rather leave it to Mandira Bedis and Gaurav Kapurs of the world to make predictions and be regarded as pundits of the game.