OPINION
Follow UsWe’ve had yet another memorable World Cup with Australia walking away with the trophy once again on Sunday (November 19) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, beating India in the finale.
Amid some highs, there have been plenty of lows as well. Here, we look at an XI who flopped in the World Cup. A Dud XI, if you will.
However, there are just two criterias for selection. The player should have played at least three matches, and a minimum of ONE player must be picked from each team.
With that, let’s get right into it.
Temba Bavuma (SA)
Inns 8 | Runs 145 | Ave 18.12 | SR 73.60 | HS 35
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma lived in the shadows of his much more aggressive opening partner, Quinton de Kock, who signed off his ODI career with close to 600 runs at an average of nearly 60 and a strike-rate over 100.
Bavuma though did play second-fiddle to de Kock well on a couple of occasions – against Australia in the group stage, where he scored 35 out of partnership of 108 and then 23 against Afghanistan in a stand of 64. Barring that, there was nothing significant to write home about.
Interestingly, five of his eight dismissals came against left-armers – three against pace and two against spin.
Max O’Dowd (NED)
Inns 9 | Runs 138 | Ave 15.33 | SR 69 | HS 42
It was a real struggle for Max O’Dowd, who failed to score 20 in his first six innings. As an opening batter, his first instinct seemed to be survival, and on more than one occasion, when it looked as though he had gone through the tough phase, he would chase one outside off and drag one onto his stumps. He looked set to get a big one against Afghanistan, but a silly run-out for 42 denied him the chance.
He did pretty well against India too, scoring 30 off 42, but that was never going to be good enough when you’re chasing 411. Overall, he made little to no impact in the Netherlands’ campaign that saw them get two wins.
Steven Smith (AUS)
Inns 10 | Runs 302 | Ave 33.55 | SR 80.96 | HS 71
A lot was expected of Steven Smith, who was expected to absorb the pressure and transfer it back to the opposition. Moreover, Smith is one of Australia’s most experienced players in that middle-order, but could not manage to really dominate proceedings.
The main reason for that could be his inability to boss the spinners around. Smith, one of the best players of spin, was dismissed five times against them in the middle-overs, scoring at an average of just 26 – the worst after Bas de Leede (19.75) in the phase among batters who have scored at least 75 runs.
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He did score a couple of fifties – 71 against the Netherlands in a team score of 399 – but his unbeaten 63 against Bangladesh in a chase of 307 was perhaps his best knock. He supported Mitchell Marsh very well in the unbeaten 175-run stand that saw Australia comfortably home.
He failed to have an impact in the final as well, managing just four before being trapped in front by Jasprit Bumrah.
Bas de Leede (NED)
Inns 9 | Runs 139 | Ave 15.44 | SR 69.84 | HS 67 | Wickets 16 | Econ 7.26
The 24-year all-rounder from the Netherlands had all it takes to shine on the biggest stage and started off well with a fifty and four-wicket haul in the first game against Pakistan in Hyderabad, but that is as good as things got for him in the tournament.
Bas de Leede faded away after the first game. Moreover, he also registered an unwanted record of registering the most expensive figures in ODIs, conceding 115 runs against Australia in Delhi.
All said and done, he was quite decent in the middle overs, accounting for 10 wickets in overs 11-40, second just to Gerald Coetzee among pacers.
However, his batting was a huge letdown in the tournament.
Tom Latham (NZ)
Inns 8 | Runs 155 | Ave 25.83 | SR 91.17 | HS 68
Tom Latham started the World Cup off pretty well - he slammed two fifties in his first two innings, but when the tournament entered the business end, he completely vanished. Following his 52 and 68 against Netherlands and Afghanistan respectively, his scores read: 5, 21, 4, 2*, 2*, 0.
To sum up - first two games - 121 runs at 60.5
Remaining games - 34 runs at 8.5
The likes of Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell won their side at least one match in the tournament. Latham, who led the side initially in Williamson’s absence, failed to do so despite having numerous chances.
Jos Buttler (c & wk, ENG)
Inns 9 | Runs 138 | Ave 15.33 | SR 97.18 | HS 43 | Dismissals 11
Just a year ago, Jos Buttler was flying with the T20 World Cup lofted over his head. A year later, his side bowed out of the World Cup, finishing seventh among 10 teams. It was certainly a campaign to forget for England, more so for Buttler, who could not have a similar impact he has had batting in the middle-order in ODI cricket over the years.
He struggled against deliveries slightly outside off (graph below), often mistiming a cover drive or a pull straight into the hands of a fielder.
In fact, 44.44% of the time, he was dismissed in the first 10 balls of his innings this World Cup, incidentally, all of them were to such deliveries.
Mujeeb-ur-Rahman (AFG)
Inns 9 | Wickets 8 | Ave 57.25 | SR 61.39 | Econ 5.59 | BBI 3/51
Afghanistan pride themselves on their spinners, but Mujeeb-ur-Rahman was a real letdown on this occasion. As a whole, the Afghanistan spinners had a decent tournament. They picked up the most wickets (35) and were also the most economical unit (Econ 4.9) after South Africa (4.6) and India (4.4).
But Mujeeb, who went wicketless in four of the nine matches, failed to have an impact in most matches. He picked up three against England and a couple against Sri Lanka in match-winning causes to redeem himself, but there was barely anything to speak of outside of that.
Maheesh Theekshana (SL)
Inns 8 | Wickets 6 | Ave 63.66 | SR 71.33 | Econ 5.35 | BBI 2/44
In the absence of Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana was expected to shoulder the responsibility of the spin bowling attack. While Dilshan Madushanka exceeded expectations in the pace department, Theekshana failed to have any sort of impact with the ball.
There is no longer any mystery associated with his bowling, with both left-handers and right-handers taking him apart with equal disdain.
Theekshana had a better tournament as a batter, scoring 100 runs at 25 batting down the order, further summing up the sort of campaign Sri Lanka had this time.
Mustafizur Rahman (BAN)
Inns 8 | Wickets 5 | Ave 79.60 | SR 78.80 | Econ 6.06 | BBI 2/36
Mustafizur Rahman came into the limelight as someone who could bowl toe-crushing yorkers and those deadly off-cutters with utmost ease. This World Cup, he found out how much more he needs to improve. It was a campaign to forget for Bangladesh, especially after their strong fight in 2019, and Mustafizur’s poor show further added to their woes.
At the death, among bowlers who bowled at least five overs, his average of 93 was the worst, while his strike-rate of 64 was also the worst after Rachin Ravindra (88).
Mohammed Siraj (IND)
Inns 11 | Wickets 14 | Ave 33.50 | SR 35.35 | Econ 5.68 | BBI 3/16
Mohammed Siraj came into the World Cup at the back of a terrific 6 for 21 against Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final in Colombo. He continued to torment Sri Lanka in the World Cup as well, claiming 3 for 16 as the 1996 champions were bundled out in the 50s on both occasions.
Outside of that, there was nothing to write home about the Indian pacer. He bowled economical spells against Australia and also in a high-scoring group-stage game against New Zealand, but he failed to deliver in the first 10 overs. He managed just seven wickets at 24.3 (SR 31.7) in the first powerplay in the tournament - which is not particularly bad.
But you put that against his performances in the phase before the tournament this year - 16 wickets (highest) at 17.2 (SR 21.8), it clearly depicts Siraj was not up to the mark.
Haris Rauf (PAK)
Inns 9 | Wickets 16 | Ave 33.31 | SR 29.62 | Econ 6.74 | BBI 3/43
Haris Rauf was one bowler Pakistan would have pinned their hopes on to deliver, especially following the injury to Naseem Shah. But overall, it turned out to be a disappointing one. To his credit, he had the most wickets at the death with 10 scalps at a superb economy rate of 5.8.
However, his first spell was the worst, having managed just one wicket at an economy rate of 7.8. That obviously coincided with the powerplay – a phase where he was the most expensive bowler, conceding at 9.4 an over.
He was excellent in his last two spells, conceding just 89 runs from 90 deliveries and picking up 10 wickets along the way, which further supports his top performance at the death. Overall, for Rauf, it was a case of undoing the damage he caused in the first spell.
Kusal Mendis (SL, 12th man)
Inns 9 | Runs 294 | Ave 32.66 | SR 113.95 | HS 122
If you need an example of how much being a captain weighs you down, look no further than Kusal Mendis. When he started off so well, one thought this could indeed be his tournament. But an injury to Dasun Shanaka meant he had to take charge of the side for the final seven games, where his performances dipped epicly.
To sum up:
Dud XI: Temba Bavuma, Max O’Dowd, Steven Smith, Bas de Leede, Tom Latham, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Maheesh Theekshana, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammed Siraj, Haris Rauf; Kusal Mendis (12th man).
