3. Alex Carey (Australia)

The Australian wicket-keeper’s spirited fight despite being hit on the chin by a searing Jofra Archer delivery early on in the semi-final against England at Edgbaston will long remain enshrined in the memories of cricket lovers as a symbol of courage. Even though he got out for 46, his 103-run partnership with Steve Smith for the fourth wicket was the foremost reason why Australia were able to reach a total of 223 despite reeling at 27/3 at one stage.

Throughout the tournament, Carey made useful contributions batting lower down the order. The left-hander nearly took his team across the finish line with a valiant 85 against South Africa in the last league game, but the Aussies eventually fell short by ten runs.

With Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell flopping miserably in the tournament, it was often Carey’s more-than-a-run-a-ball knocks late in the Australian innings which eventually proved the winning margin in low scoring games. 

With the gloves, too, he had a fantastic tournament, affecting 20 dismissals in 10 games including 18 catches and 2 stumpings.

Tournament batting stats: 10 matches, 375 runs, Avg. 62.50, S/R 104.45, HS 85