5 underrated players who can shine at the Cricket World Cup

The cricketing extravaganza is back after a hiatus of 4 years. Although the format of the World Cup has been criticized for its length with the knockout matches beginning only after a month and the top 8 Test playing nations virtually assured progression to the quarterfinals, it can still turn out to be an exciting tournament as there is no clear favourite to lift the Cup this time. Starting with the co-hosts who will be looking to exploit home advantage, Australia have a well balanced team with explosive power both in the batting and bowling department while Newzeland have struck a rich vein of form and always punched above their weight in ICC events.It will also be interesting to see if South Africa can finally overcome the perennial “chokers” tag with the best batsman and bowler in the world at their disposal in AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, respectively. Amongst the other teams, England have a young team led by a new inspirational captain without any baggage, and it will be foolhardy to discount defending champions India given their batting depth. Also, the other two Asian giants Sri Lanka and Pakistan have been known to perform well above expectations and it won’t be a surprise if it happens this time too. Honestly, any of them can win the World Cup by pulling together a string of 3 good performances in the knockout stages. Coming to the players, big guns like AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Kumar Sangakkara and Dale Steyn will obviously be expected to perform at the biggest stage, but here’s a list of 5 underrated players who can play a pivotal part in their country’s success:

#1 Trent Boult

The left-arm seamer from New Zealand has the rare ability to bowl quickly and swing the ball both ways. This makes him a dangerous proposition on the seamer-friendly pitches of Australia and New Zealand. While he has become Kiwi’s mainstay in the Test arena, he has just played 16 ODI matches, taking 18 wickets at an average of 34.

But he gave all his upcoming opponents a stern warning by taking 5 wickets against the South Africans in a World Cup warm-up match. If he can recreate his lethal new-ball partnership with Tim Southee in the ODI arena, the co-hosts will be quite a handful.