No Rohit Sharma; Virat Kohli captain - Cricket Australia name their best 11 of the 2023 World Cup
Cricket Australia (CA) have revealed their 'team of the tournament' for the 2023 World Cup, naming India's Virat Kohli as the captain. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma didn't make the cut.
While Rohit has given his team quite a few crucial quick starts, the fact that he hasn't scored many big 100s and 50s seems to have gone against him.
The playing 11 was comprised of players from the four teams that qualified for the semi-finals. It had four Indians, three South Africans, three Australians, and one New Zealander. CA picked Sri Lanka's new pace revelation Dilshan Madushanka as the 12th man.
The openers were Quinton de Kock and David Warner, two of the three highest-scoring top-order batters in the tournament so far. Rohit had four more runs, a better average, and a much better strike rate than Warner. However, Cricket Australia felt the Aussie southpaw was more consistent.
"Australia have been the best batting Powerplay team in terms of runs scored and Warner's consistency (dismissed for no single-figure scores) has been a huge reason behind that," cricket.com.au, Cricket Australia's subsidy, wrote in their report.
Rachin Ravindra, Kohli, Aiden Markram and Glenn Maxwell made up the middle order. Kohli was the top run-scorer on the league stage, and he got the captaincy armband despite not leading India since 2021.
Markram was behind a few middle-order batters in terms of runs scored in the World Cup. But the South African's explosivity and better suitability for the No. 5 position seem to have worked in his favor.
The bowling attack was made up of all the top-wicket takers from the teams that qualified for the semi-finals. India's pace duo of Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah lead the attack.
Madushanka took more wickets than them but Shami's strike rate and Bumrah's low economy apparently proved to be the difference.
Cricket Australia's best 11 of 2023 World Cup
Quinton de Kock, David Warner, Rachin Ravindra, Virat Kohli (c), Aiden Markram, Glenn Maxwell, Marco Jansen, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Adam Zampa, Jasprit Bumrah
12th man: Dilshan Madushanka