The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 has seen some brilliant performances from batters and bowlers from each country. They looked good and helped their country register victories with their abilities that changed the course of the game.
Few of the Players from each side have failed to deliver whenever the team needs it. Teams Like India and South Africa performed brilliantly as they are currently in the top two spots in the points table. Apart from this teams like England and Bangladesh looked inconsistent with their top players not able to perform well in batting and bowling. Both teams are currently in the bottom two places.
Here we look at the 1 player from each country who has underperformed in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
- India (Shreyas Iyer)
Shreyas Iyer has been the only weak link in India’s brilliant run so far. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli shown the consistency that allowed India to win matches. KL Rahul also looked impressive with brilliant knocks.
India has been dealt a major blow as Hardik Pandya injured himself during the match against Bangladesh. Shreyas Iyer could not open his account in the first match against Australia. He scored well compiled half-century against Pakistan.
Iyer struggled with short deliveries as the bowlers targeted him. He has scored 134 runs from 6 matches and would look to deliver the goods when India faces Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 2nd November 2023.
- South Africa (Temba Bavuma)
Temba Bavuma missed a few matches due to an injury as Aiden Markram captained the side. Reeza Hendricks opened the innings and played lovely along with de Kock. South Africa has been on a roll with 350-plus scores when they batted first.
Bavuma is the weak link in South Africa’s batting order as de Kock scored his fourth century this tournament, Van der Dussen hit the 2nd century, Miller’s brilliance and Markram’s ability to smash the bowling make them a contender to win the tournament.
South African captain Bavuma made just 87 runs from 4 matches with no half-centuries in the tournament so far. His batting could be the main factor when South Africa would be put under immense pressure when chasing down targets.
- New Zealand (Trent Boult)
New Zealand’s prime pace bowler Trent Boult has struggled to pick early wickets in the tournament so far. He was hammered by the Australian openers Warner and Head at Dharmshala.
The other left-arm pacers like Dilshan Madhushanka, Marco Jansen, and Shaheen Shah Afridi has performed much better than Boult.
Boult got rid of Temba Bavuma early in the match against South Africa on 1st November. New Zealand struggled to stop the flow of runs as Matt Henry could not bowl due to an injury. Boult bowled reasonably well in death overs but lacked the venom to stop South Africa from posting 357 for 4.
New Zealand would be hoping that Boult comes to the party when they face Pakistan in a must-win situation on 4th November as they lost 3 successive matches against India, Australia, and South Africa.
- Australia (Steve Smith)
Australia has been on a roll after losing the first two matches against India and South Africa. With the likes of Travis Head and David Warner, their order provides solid starts laying a strong foundation for a massive total.
Steve Smith’s best score came against the Netherlands where Australia posted 399 for 8 in 50 overs thanks to Warner’s century and Glenn Maxwell’s fastest century in World Cup history. He struggled to score runs against teams like New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
Coming at number 4, Smith’s job has become tricker. He has struggled on good batting pitches as he scored just 25 runs combined in matches against New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
- Afghanistan (Mohammad Nabi)
The veteran all-rounder Mohammad Nabi has struggled for Afghanistan. Afghanistan has performed brilliantly in the tournament defeating 3 former World Cup champions including England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan currently with 3 wins and 2nd the best Asian side in the competition so far.
Afghanistan’s batting looked impressive with the likes of Rahmat Shah, Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Omarzai rising to the occasion as they are not dependent on opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The bowling has stepped up as they kept the opponents with the likes of Naveen UL Haq, Farqooi, Rashid Khan, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
Mohammad Nabi scored just 41 runs in his 4 innings so far and needs to contribute much in the remaining matches. With the ball, Nabi grabbed only 3 wickets in the six matches he bowled so far.
- Sri Lanka (Maheesh Theekshana)
Mahesh Theekshana missed the first match of the tournament against South Africa due to an injury. After his comeback, he has struggled a lot with only 3 wickets from his 5 matches at an economy of 5.02 runs per over.
Sri Lanka looked clueless in the middle overs to pick wickets that allowed the opponents to score big runs and made life tough for the Lankan team. He has not been able to get early wickets with the new ball so far and would be hoping to do the needful in the remaining games.
- Bangladesh (Shakib AL Hasan)
Shakib AL Hasan was appointed as the captain of the Bangladesh team for this year’s World Cup. He disappointed with both bat and ball. They played a total of 7 matches so far and won only 1 match.
Shakib registered his best score in the tournament against Pakistan at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. He scored just 61 runs batting at different positions which led to instability in the batting order.
Bangladesh needs to win the next two matches to stay in contention for the 2025 Champions Trophy that will be played in Pakistan.
- Netherlands (Max O Dowd)
Netherlands has performed brilliantly in the tournament so far upsetting South Africa and then defeating Bangladesh. The Dutch stepped up with different players rising to the occasion.
The middle order, all-rounders, and pace bowlers created havoc among the opponents, the likes of Max O Dowd and Vikramjit Singh struggled. Max O Dowd looked out of sorts scoring just 61 runs in the 6 matches he batted with an average of 10.16.
He would be hoping to produce some lovely knocks in the remaining matches and leave a mark in opening the innings.
- Pakistan (Imam UL Haq)
Imam UL Haq struggled in this year’s World Cup 2023. He has not given good starts to the team which put the Pakistan team under pressure. Imam was peppered with short deliveries and dismissed multiple times in this tournament.
Imam scored just 162 runs from 6 matches with only an impressive knock against Australia. He was dropped from the important clash against Pakistan at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. His lack of ability to play attacking shots in the first 10 overs puts enough pressure on the non-striker and makes him hit risky shots.
- England (Jonny Bairstow)
The dashing right-handed opener Jonny Bairstow has failed to deliver the goods for England in World Cup 2023. He has not been able to provide great starts in most of the matches resulting in England not posting big totals or chasing down targets.
Jonny Bairstow has been a failure while opening the innings for England with 141 runs from six matches with only one fifty against Bangladesh where they posted a massive total of 364 for 9.
England are in danger of not qualifying for the 2025 Champions Trophy. They need to win 2 out of 3 matches remaining.
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