World Cup 2019: Sachin presents its World Cup Team of the Tournament
7 unanimous selections as we do a World Cup 2019 team of the tournament comparison for ICC, Cricinfo, Sachin Tendulkar, Harsha Bhogle, and Zaheer Khan.
The 2019 World Cup would perhaps go down as the most dramatic World Cup the sport has ever seen.
After 48 matches and 46 days of nonstop cricket, the final between England and New Zealand ended on a tied Super Over with England emerging victorious due to a bizarre rule of ‘Count of boundaries’.
Leaving the agony of the final there itself, the Cricketing stalwarts then focused on announcing their Team of the Tournament for World Cup 2019.
After looking at the team selections of different Cricket Gurus, we have decided to compare the World Cup 2019 team of the tournament of ICC, Cricinfo, Harsha Bhogle, Zaheer Khan, and Sachin Tendulkar for obvious reasons.
So, let’s look at the comparison from different perspectives that would highlight their thought process.
Before we begin, let’s also look at our Team of the Tournament, which we decided purely based on Performance Rating, leaving out any biases and perceptions.
Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Jason Roy, Kane Williamson(C), Babar Azam, Shakib Al Hasan, Ben Stokes, Alex Carey (Wk), Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer, Lockie Ferguson, and Jasprit Bumrah.
THE UNANIMOUS SEVEN:
Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Shakib Al Hasan, Ben Stokes, Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer, and Jasprit Bumrah walk-in unanimously into everyone’s team of the tournament.
The leading run-scorer of the tournament, Rohit Sharma has had a perfect tournament amassing a total of 648 runs. His record-breaking tally of 5 centuries makes him the first choice opener in everyone’s XI.
Kane Williamson and Shakib Al Hasan carried the burden of their underperforming team on their shoulders, and they did that with perfection. Shakib also chipped in with 11 wickets, which was a key factor in selecting him as the number one all-rounder.
Ben Stokes, the man of the final and the man of pressure situations is a tough choice to leave out. His fruitful returns with the bat, and a bowler, who can give 3-4 crucial overs makes him the second choice all-rounder for everyone.
Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer and Bumrah have easily been the best bowlers of the tournament. All three come-in with their individual strengths. Mitchell Starc is a wicket-taker, Jasprit Bumrah is a ‘go-to’ man in tough situations, while Archer is a wonderful bowler upfront and at the death.
KANE WILLIAMSON- THE CAPTAIN, THE LEADER, THE TEAM-MAN
Kane Williamson leads the team of the tournament for everyone. A complete team player, a tactical genius, and the player of the series, Kane Williamson is a unanimous choice for leading the team.
His returns with the bat speak gold having scored 578 runs at an average of 82.57, and scoring almost 29% of team’s runs.
THE POPULAR STARS:
Two players find themselves in 5 of the 6 teams, and those are Alex Carey and Jason Roy.
Except for Sachin Tendulkar, who has surprisingly picked Jonny Bairstow as his wicket-keeper, almost everyone has the finisher, Alex Carey as their wicket-keeper.
Meanwhile, except for Sachin Tendulkar again, who has picked Jonny Bairstow as his second opener, almost everyone has Jason Roy as the second choice opener partnering Rohit Sharma.
In addition to these two, there’s one more name that has been common in 3 of the 6 teams, and that is Lockie Ferguson.
The Kiwi pacer has been a revelation this season. His ability to pick wickets in the middle overs makes him invaluable, and a perfect fourth pacer, complementing the other three.
SURPRISE INCLUSIONS:
‘Master Blaster‘, Sachin Tendulkar’s team did have a few interesting inclusions. He is the only one to have selected Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja in his side.
The number one batsman in the World, Virat Kohli has had an impressive campaign with the bat. But, was it enough to make him look better than his counterparts?. A question we should ask ourselves.
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya has had a decent campaign scoring 226 runs and accounting for 10 wickets, but falls behind Stokes and Shakib for runs and Neesham for wickets, who has 15.
No doubt Ravindra Jadeja has been superb in the two matches he played, but does he really deserve to be on the team basis just 2 matches?.
Joe Root makes his way into 2 of the 6 squads. He has played a perfect second fiddle to Roy, Bairstow, Morgan, and Stokes. But, is he a person who can single-handedly win you matches?.
Jimmy Neesham, the bowling all-rounder makes his way into two squads. He has been superb with ball, but he is more often overlooked for Ben Stokes, who makes it purely on the basis of his batting.
Babar Azam, David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, and Imran Tahir feature once among all the six squads. All four were outstanding players for their respective teams, but were left out by others in search of the best.
CONCLUSION:
Each individual is entitled to have his own opinion while selecting the team, and we respect each of them.
If and only if we were to pick one team from the 5 mentioned above, we would pick ICC’s team, as it looks the most complete team on the paper.
Now that we have seen the team of the major cricketing gurus, we would love to hear yours. Please drop in your team in the comments section.
Lakshman is an 18-year-old cricket fanatic. Just like millions of fans, his love for cricket is unparalleled. He has a passion for writing, and his emotion for the sport can be seen in his words.
