Best XI of the retired players who were a part of the 2015 World Cup
Every time a World Cup happens, there come some retirements post the tournament. Some leave with the joy of being the champions while some leave with unfulfilled dreams. The World Cups are considered to be the points in players' careers where they decide whether to continue playing cricket at the highest level.
After all, a World Cup is what a team or an individual prepares for and looks forward to giving their best. And post that, there comes a point when players decide if they have it in them to give it their all for the next World Cup.
The story was no different for the 2015 tournament. As we look forward to the 2019 World Cup, here is a look at some legends who featured in the last edition but will not be a part of the upcoming tournament
Openers - Brendon McCullum and Tillakaratne Dilshan
One of the best skippers of the 2015 World Cup, Brendon McCullum was at his destructive best in the later stages of his career, especially in the World Cup. Starting as a lower order batsman, McCullum's fierce hitting made him an obvious choice for the opening slot in ODIs, especially after his heroics in T20s.
Playing as many as 260 ODIs in his 14-year long ODI career, Baz scored 6083 runs at an impressive strike rate of 96.7. With the highest score of 166, he had 5 hundreds in ODI cricket. One of the finest glovesmen from the Kiwi soil, McCullum retired in 2016, just ahead of the World T20.
He was a part of 4 World Cups, ending up as a semi-finalist in two and leading his team to the finals in his last World Cup. He will go down as one of the finest cricketers from New Zealand.
One of the four Sri Lankans to cross the 10000 run mark, Tillakaratne Dilshan remained a bits-and-pieces player in the ODIs till he was sent out to open. An electric fielder and a more than handy part timer who chipped in with his off-breaks occasionally, he was batting in the lower middle order till 2008.
Making his debut in 1999, Dilshan rediscovered himself when he was used as an opener after a lean patch in the middle order in 2008. In a career spanning 17 years, Dilshan aggregated 10290 runs in 330 ODIs at an average of 39.27 and and a strike rate of 86.23 and had 22 ODI hundreds to his name.
He retired after the home series against Australia in 2016. Despite spending most of his early career as a middle-order batsman, Dilshan will go down as one of the best openers from the island nation.
The devastating duo of McCullum and Dilshan can make any bowling combination run for cover and hence make up the opening pair of the team.