World Cup 2019: Five players who flopped

The group stage of World Cup 2019 has come to an end and the top four teams will now sweat it out for the ultimate cricketing crown. The semis kick off with India taking on New Zealand at Old Trafford, Manchester on Tuesday, July 9th followed by Australia facing off against hosts England at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

The unpredictability of this tournament was seen as South Africa failed to make an impact until the very end while teams like Pakistan and Bangladesh gave a tough fight for qualification.

We have had some stunning performances in the group stage from the fiery yorkers of Mitchell Starc to the undying brilliance of Rohit Sharma. Also brilliant was the performance of Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan who defined consistency and single-handedly won many games for his side.

While there were many such top performers, the performances of certain players were a huge letdown for both the fans and management alike and this often resulted in the loss of team balance which in turn led to a poor league phase.

Let's take a look at five players who disappointed the most and flopped in this tournament.

#5 Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)

One of the many veterans taking part in the tournament, Shoaib Malik, has had a rather poor tournament and has let down many people failing the expectations of many people back home. He failed to make any impact in the three games he played. He managed to make six runs on a great Trent Bridge wicket against England while picking up one wicket.

In the following games against Australia and India, Shoaib let down his side greatly as he got out for a duck in situations which required him to build a partnership.

He announced his retirement from ODIs after Pakistan failed to make it to the semi-finals because of their low net run rate, rounding off a flop WC campaign for the star player.

Also see – India vs New Zealand head to head stats