ICC World Cup 2015: Top 6 contenders for Player of the Tournament award

It’s the greatest individual prize in a team game – Player of the Tournament at a World Cup. Very often, a player from the winning team picks it up – Yuvraj Singh, Glenn McGrath, Sanath Jayasuriya – 3 out of 6 times, not because it is a trend but because such is the impact of these players that they take their team all the way through.More often than not, it’s the all-rounders performing with bat and ball who take the award home, Yuvraj, Lance Klusener and Jayasuriya being classic examples. Sometimes pure performances get rewarded too – Sachin Tendulkar and Glenn McGrath being great examples.With the World Cup getting more and more competitive, every player has been trying to contribute more to teams – with the bat, with the ball, and on the field. The difference can be seen in the way pace bowlers are fielding and catching, how regular batsmen are turning their arms over to slip in a few overs, how lower-order batsmen are hanging on to help their teams post more runs and get closer to targets in a chase.This World Cup has also been special in how the top teams like New Zealand, Australia and India have won more through team effort than with the brilliance of just one or two individuals, something that has been the case of South Africa and Sri Lanka.Yet, as we enter the knock-out stage, there are some clear favourites to win the Man of the Tournament award:

#6 Corey Anderson

Corey Anderson hasnt set the World Cup on fire. His 75 against Sri Lanka in the first game was scintillating. His blitzkrieg innings against Australia and Bangladesh in tight situations were crucial. Yet, he didnt manage to finish either of the games. In spite of all that, he is the only genuine all-rounder in contention for the Man of the Tournament gag and he has a big edge.

He has 158 runs at 39.5 with a strike-rate of nearly 115 with the bat. With the ball, he has 10 wickets at 13 apiece with an economy of 4.82 making him extremely useful for his teams cause, supporting the new ball bowling pair of Trent Boult and Tim Southee. He is brisk in terms of the speed at which he bowls. He can bludgeon the ball with the bat and most importantly, he backs himself with the big shots no matter what the situation is.

If New Zealand reach the finals, it will definitely be on the back of important contributions from the young all-rounder, whether as a finisher in tough chasesor as a hitter in the slog overs or as a first change bowler complementing Daniel Vettoris spin.