World Cup 2019: Combined underperforming XI of the tournament
The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 has just ended in tremendous fashion. Congratulations to England for holding their nerves and lifting the trophy at the end of this grueling tournament. Commiserations to New Zealand to losing the World Cup final in the perhaps the unluckiest of fashions.
The controversy of the finals still does not take away from the fact that the fans got to see a spectacular tournament. This year’s World Cup saw us witness some brilliant performances from a lot of players like Rohit Sharma, Shakib Al Hasan, Kane Williamson, Mitchel Starc, etc. On the flip side, there were quite a few star players who buckled under pressure and did not live up to the billing.
In this article, we present to you a list of 11 players who underperformed terribly for their respective teams.
Openers: Martin Guptill and Fakhar Zaman
Martin Guptill is one of the most destructive openers in world cricket. On his day, he can single-handedly demolish any bowler in the world. In fact, Guptill holds the record for the highest individual score in World Cup history when he scored an unbeaten 237 runs against the West Indies in the 2015 World Cup.
However, this year, Guptill’s form has taken a turn for the worse. He struggled at the top of the order and his poor performances put his captain Kane Williamson in a very tight spot. The Kiwi opener scored a total of 186 runs in 10 matches at an average of 20.66. He managed to score just one half-century in the entire tournament. Kane Williamson seemed reluctant to drop him because of his international experience and his exploits as a fielder.
Fakhar Zaman is another opener who came into the World Cup with a lot riding on his shoulders. Just like Martin Guptill, Fakhar Zaman has also scored a double century in ODI cricket. Fakhar came into the tournament with unpredictable form. He did score a century during Pakistan’s tour of England just before the World Cup commenced. Sadly, he couldn’t carry his form over into the biggest tournament of his career.
Zaman just failed to get his team off to good starts and his poor performances at the top put a lot of unnecessary pressure on the middle order. In 8 matches that he played, Zaman only managed to score 186 runs at a below-par average of 23.25. Maybe Pakistan should look to change their opening combination going forward.
Also read – World cup winners list