Starc Archer Ferguson Bumrah in 2019 World Cup XI
Two in-form openers, two steady No. 3s, three allrounders, one keeper-batsman, and four fast bowlers.
Starc Archer Ferguson Bumrah in 2019 World Cup XI
Finalists England and New Zealand contribute three players each, with two apiece from semi-finalists Australia and India. Shakib Al Hasan was the only unanimous choice among the teams picked by 46 of our staff members (and the only front-line spin-bowling option), while Rohit Sharma, Ben Stokes, Kane Williamson and Jasprit Bumrah featured in over 90% of the teams. While ten spots in the XI were clear cut, the 11th was a close contest: Jimmy Neesham pipped the likes of David Warner, Babar Azam and Jos Buttler. 2019 World Cup
Jason Roy
Inns 7 Runs 443 Average 63.28 Strike Rate 115.36 100s/50s 1/4
Roy was the aggressor in England’s successful opening pairing. He and Bairstow had the best average and strike rate among opening pairs with at least 200 runs in the tournament – no surprise given they top those stats for any ODI opening pair with over 1000 partnership runs. Roy missed three matches due to injury; England lost two of those. His only single-digit score came in the loss to Pakistan. His 85 in the semi-final hastened Australia’s exit after the bowlers restricted them to 223. 2019 World Cup
Rohit Sharma
Inns 9 Runs 648 Ave 81.00 SR 98.33 100s/50s 5/1
A record five hundreds made Rohit the leading run scorer of the tournament, and such was his form that his captain, Virat Kohli – the only one ahead of him in the ODI batting rankings now – called him the “best one-day player”. With regular opening partner Shikhar Dhawan ruled out, Rohit took on the onus of ensuring the team got off to good starts. Unfortunately for India, his run of three consecutive hundreds ended in the semi-final. 2019 World Cup
Shakib Al Hasan
Matches 8 Runs 606 Ave 86.57 SR 96.03 Wickets 11 Ave 36.27 ER 5.39
Bangladesh’s management accepted his request to bat at No. 3, and Shakib, currently the world’s best ODI allrounder, repaid the faith with seven 50-plus scores in eight innings. His bowling was steady in a tournament where spinners struggled, but he managed to take a vital five-for against Afghanistan, becoming the first Bangladesh player to take a five-wicket haul at the World Cup, and the second to complete the double of a fifty and a five-for in a World Cup match. No wonder many felt he deserved the Player-of-the-Tournament award. 2019 World Cup
Kane Williamson (capt)
Inns 9 Runs 578 Ave 82.57 SR 74.96 100s/50s 2/2
As captain, Williamson would know best whether he should bat at No. 3 or not. He was New Zealand’s rock – with the bat in a fragile batting line-up and in the field in tense situations. He scored in tough conditions, and he all but led his team to the title after three straight defeats to end the league stage. He was voted the Player of the Tournament, and his composure after the cruel loss in the final will be an abiding memory of this World Cup.
Ben Stokes
Matches 11 Runs 465 Ave 66.42 SR 93.18 Wickets 7 Ave 35.14 ER 4.83
The most runs for a batsman at No. 4 or lower in the tournament. Stokes scored five fifties in his ten innings, and remained unbeaten in the final, in which he was the Player of the Match, took a stunning catch against South Africa, and chipped in with the ball all through. 2019 World Cup
Alex Carey (wk)
Matches 10 Runs 375 Ave 62.50 SR 104.16 Dismissals 20
Not many would have tipped him to make this XI at the start of the tournament. Carey came up with crucial runs in close wins for Australia; Steve Waugh called him a “hybrid of Michael Hussey and Michael Bevan”. If he remains in the same league as those names, watch out for Australia in 2023. 2019 World Cup
James Neesham
Matches 10 Runs 232 Ave 33.14 SR 78.91 Wickets 15 Ave 19.46 ER 5.35
Neesham was thinking of retirement a couple of years ago. Three allrounders might seem too many, but it’s hard to ignore Neesham’s all-round heroics. Can score runs, can take wickets, can pull off diving catches and have us in splits with his tweets (the last one wasn’t a selection criterion). He nearly took New Zealand over the line in that Super Over. 2019 World Cup
Mitchell Starc
Inns 10 Wickets 27 Ave 18.59 ER 5.43 4s/5s 2/2
Like in 2015, Starc finished with the most wickets. His 27 broke Glenn McGrath’s record for a single World Cup. One could argue he wasn’t as supremely good as he was in 2015 – when he took 22 wickets at 10.18 apiece – but that would be just nitpicking. Also the only one from our 2015 World Cup XI in the 2019 team. 2019 World Cup
Jofra Archer
Inns 11 Wickets 20 Ave 23.05 ER 4.57 4s/5s 0/0
Would England have been champions had they not drafted Archer into their final squad? Playing only his 14th ODI, he was entrusted with bowling the Super Over in the final, given how he had performed in the death overs. He kept New Zealand to exactly 15 runs – two off the final two balls – to clinch their first World Cup title. His 20 wickets are the best for an England player in a World Cup.
Lockie Ferguson
Inns 9 Wickets 21 Ave 19.47 ER 4.88 4s/5s 1/0
New Zealand’s strike bowler brought real pace into the middle overs at this World Cup. Always in the wickets, Ferguson was only behind Starc on the wicket-takers’ list in the tournament. 2019 World Cup
Jasprit Bumrah
Inns 9 Wickets 18 Average 20.61 ER 4.41 4s/5s 1/0
It was business as usual for the top ODI bowler in the world. Bumrah was India’s Mr Reliable, and even when those at the other end got more wickets, it was his control and frugality that stood out. 2019 World Cup
