5 players who re-invented themselves in the World Cup

The 2015 World Cup concluded on Sunday with Australia beating New Zealand by 7 wickets in a one sided encounter at the MCG. With that, Australia clinched their fifth World Cup title and also became the second host nation after India to win the trophy.For his impressive spell in the batting powerplay, James Faulkner was awarded the Man of the Match while Mitchell Starc was awarded the Man of the Tournament for some excellent bowling throughout the tournament.While there were quite a few players who were at their usual best and playing the way they always do, we got to see a reboot of sorts from some other players. These players, who have looked to be struggling in the past, raised their game for the occasion of the World Cup.Let’s take a look at 5 such players: 

#5 Mohammad Shami

Mohammad Shami picked up 17 wickets at an average of 17.29 and an economy rate of 4.82 in the World Cup. In almost every game, he made early inroads with the new ball and set the game up nicely for the slower bowlers. He consistently bowled at a speed in excess of 140 KPH and swung the ball as well. He also made good use of the bouncy Australian wickets as he peppered the batsmen with a lot of short pitched stuff.

Given that the Bengal pacer was the leading wicket taker in ODIs in 2014, there wasn’t too much doubt about his capability. However, he had looked listless for the major part of the tour of Australia. He was guilty of bowling too many short deliveries. Moreover, it seemed as if his line had wavered as too many of his deliveries drifted towards the leg stump. There were many who had felt that the 25-year-old would be a liability for the Men in Blue.

However, from the very first game in the World Cup, Shami was right on the money. He constantly pitched most of his deliveries on a good length or on a fuller length. Moreover, a major chunk of these deliveries were either in the channel outside the off stump or on the off and middle line. He effectively used well-directed short ball as well and troubled many batsmen with his pace and bounce.