World Cup 2019: Dream Team of the Tournament by Cricalytics

Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson, Shakib Al Hasan, Mitchell Starc, and Jasprit Bumrah, the undisputable selections as we find the World Cup 2019 dream team of the tournament. 

10 teams, 48 matches, and 46 days of nonstop enthralling Cricket have finally come to an end. Not sure, if it is an ideal way to decide the winner based on ‘numbers of boundaries count’ after a tied Super Over, but England, the favorites to lift the trophy, have held their nerves to script the most dramatic win in the finals.

Right then, now that the tournament is over, we cannot control our excitement to write the most interesting article that can follow the tournament. Yes! it is the dream team of the tournament of World Cup 2019.

Like other cricket experts, we don’t believe to build a team based on perceptions, because perceptions bring biases. Hence, like always, we are going to build the team based on performance rating, which we feel is the most comprehensive and unique way of finding the team of the tournament. 

Please note, the team combination has been decided based on the following criteria

• 2 openers, 3 middle-order players, 2 all-rounders, and 4 bowlers.
• A player must have played a minimum of 7 innings.

So, without any further day, let’s find out the World Cup 2019 dream team of the tournament. 

Openers: 

Always the most interesting category to select from because there have been so many good performances from players in this category.

Shortlist: Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, and Aaron Finch

#1: Rohit Sharma

Of the two openers, the leading runs scorer of the tournament, Rohit Sharma picks for himself with a performance rating of 8.98.  Rohit Sharma has taken his game to another level this World Cup with staggering 5 centuries, making him the only player to have scored 5 centuries in a single edition of a World Cup. He is also the leading run-scorer of the tournament with his tally of 648 runs from 9 innings at an average of 81, and a strike rate of 98.33.

#2: Jason Roy

A slightly tough choice, but complementing Rohit Sharma, our second opener is Jason Roy with a performance rating of 8.36. Jason Roy has been the saviour for the England team this World Cup. Predominantly the way he has revived England’s campaign after they suffered a couple of shocking defeats. Jason Roy gave aggressive starts at the start, and in the process scored 443 runs from 7 innings at an average of 63.28, and a strike rate of 115.36.

So, Rohit Sharma and Jason Roy are our two openers. Luckily they both complement each other as Rohit Sharma can take his time to settle himself, while Jason Roy can be the aggressor at the start.

David Warner with a performance rating of 7.4, Aaron Finch with 6.41, and Jonny Bairstow with 5.79 missed out on the selection.

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Middle-order:

Another category which had some really superb performances, but probably the most difficult category to choose the players from.

Shortlist Batsmen: Virat Kohli (IND), Joe Root (ENG), Kane Williamson (NZ), Faf du Plessis (SA), and Babar Azam (PAK). 

#3: Kane Williamson (C)

Of the two middle-order players, the captain, Kane Williamson picks for himself with a performance rating of 7.2; the best among all middle-order players.

Kane has single-handedly carried New Zealand mediocre batting line-up as he accounted for almost 29% of team’s runs. Overall, he managed to score a total of 578 runs from 9 innings; the most by any captain in a single edition of a World Cup. Kane is also the captain of my side having led an underwhelming New Zealand side to the finals of World Cup 2019.

#4: Babar Azam

A slightly debatable selection, but supporting Williamson is the emerging superstar from Pakistan, Babar Azam. He gets selected for a better performance rating of 6.87 as compared to du Plessis’ 6.18, Kohli’s 5.96, and Root’s 5.61.

The things which worked for Babar are,

• Consistency of 75%, better than Kohli’s 66.67%, Root’s 63.6% and du Plessis’s 57.14%.
• Average of 67.71%, better than du Plessis’s 64.5, Root’s 61.8, and Kohli’s 55.4%.
• 3 match-winning performances, similar to Kohli’s 3, while better than du Plessis and Root’s 2.

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ALSO READ: World Cup 2019 Stats Wizard: Team India Performance Report Card

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All-rounders:

Probably the easiest of the category to choose from since there were only 3 shortlisted players in the category with Shakib Al Hasan already confirmed as one all-rounder. 

Shortlist All-rounders: Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), Ben Stokes (ENG), and Hardik Pandya (IND)

#5: Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan has been a revelation this World Cup. He has scored a total of 606 runs from 8 innings at an average of 86.57, and a strike rate of 96.03. He gets a performance rating of 9.38 in batting and 5.41 in bowling.

While I am not in favour of playing Shakib at 5 since he has played at number 3 throughout the tournament, but the kind of skills he possesses, and for the sake of having a strong lower middle-order, Shakib looks the best bet for this position. 

#6: Ben Stokes

With two ‘player of the match’ awards including the one in the finals, Ben Stokes’s name as the second all-rounder is inevitable.  Coming in to bat at number 5 for England, Ben Stokes has garnered a total of 465 runs from 10 innings at an average of 66.4, and a strike rate of 87.8, thus securing a performance rating of 6.23.

While he may not be as effective as Hardik Pandya as a bowler, his role is more of a part-timer where he can bowl those 3-4 crucial overs. Stokes did well as a part-time bowler accounting for 7 wickets at an economy rate of 4.83, and a performance rating of 3.53.

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WIcket-Keeper Finisher:

Shortlist Wicket-keepers: Alex Carey (AUS), Mushfuqur Rahim (BAN) and, Jos Buttler (ENG).

#7: Alex Carey

Alex Carey has not just been a successful wicket-keeper with most dismissals to his name, but also a successful finisher. Along with the 20 dismissals to his name, Alex Carey has scored a total of 375 runs from 9 innings at an average of 62.5, and an impressive strike rate of 104.16; thus securing a performance rating of 6.18. 

His competition, Jos Buttler has taken a total of 14 dismissals with a batting performance rating of 4.24, while Mushfiqur Rahim has taken a total of 10 dismissals with a batting performance rating of 5.04. 

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Bowlers:

Shortlist: Mitchell Starc, Lockie Ferguson, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah, Imran Tahir, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Amir, and Trent Boult.

#8 & #9: Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Starc

Two obvious choices, Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Starc walk-in straight away in the bowling line-up with a performance rating of 10 and 9.09 respectively. Starc has been a wicket-taker having accounted for 27 wickets from 10 innings; the most in any tournament. Bumrah, on the other hand, has been a ‘go-to bowler’ when it comes to crunch situations. His tally of 18 wickets from 9 innings, and an economy rate of 4.4 speaks for itself. 

That leaves us two more choices, and six more options to choose from. I really wanted a spinner in the squad, but it has been an unforgettable tournament for the spinners.

Imran Tahir, the best of the lot could only manage 11 wickets from 9 outings with a performance rating of 6.39, nowhere near the top bowlers. Hence, Tahir was left out on account of pure performance, and the need for a pacer.  Boult, Mustafizur, and Amir were superb, but had a slightly lesser performance rating of 7.83, 7.58, and 8.22 respectively.

#10 & #11: Jofra Archer and Lockie Ferguson

So, that leaves us with Lockie Ferguson and Jofra Archer; our third and fourth pacers with a performance rating of 8.92 and 8.79 respectively.  Lockie has been the leader of the pack for New Zealand, and probably the best bowler for the middle-overs.

Overall, he accounted for 21 wickets from 9 outings with a consistency of 88.9%; the best alongside Jasprit Bumrah. Jofra Archer, the man who helped England win their maiden World Cup has had an amazing tournament having accounted for 20 wickets from 11 outings at a superb economy rate of 4.57.  

12th Man: David Warner

It is painful to not see David Warner in the playing XI after being the second-highest runs scorer. But, slight aggression, and a few more match-winning performances would have worked wonders for him, and his team. Nevertheless, Warner has been superb throughout the tournament. He scored a total of 647 runs from 10 outings at an average of 71.9, and a strike rate of 89.4, thus securing a performance rating of 7.3.

So, that completes our dream team of the tournament for World Cup 2019.

World Cup 2019 Dream Team of the Tournament: 

Rohit Sharma, Jason Roy, Kane Williamson (C), Babar Azam, Shakib Al Hasan, Ben Stokes and Alex Carey (WK), Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer, Lockie Ferguson, and Jasprit Bumrah.

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ALSO READ: England make history; win their maiden World Cup after a tied Super Over

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