Sunday, 15 March 2015

Team of the Group Round


                                       Team of the Group Round

It took a month to complete the Group Round of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. In, total 42 matches have been played with each of the 14 contesting team played 6 each. With the exception of one between Australia and Bangladesh all produced results and shaped up the Team of the Group Round as.

Sri Lanka Tilkaratne Dilshan and India’ Shikhar Dhawan have been the qualified top opining batsmen of the Team of the Group Round. Dilshan scored 395 runs at an average of 79.50 and Dhawan 337 at 94.13. Each opener hit 2 centuries and single fifty so far to make a pair of the Team. Hashim Amla sits in the bench.

Kumar Sangakkara, with 496 runs at 124.25, has not only been the top runs getter but also the most consistent batsman of the Group Round with 4 centuries in 6 innings. Besides, his  8 dismissals with 5 catches and 3 stumping makes the veteran Sri Lankan batsman a reliable wicketkeeper, so there is no harm to hands him the wicket keeping job. Mahmudullah has turned around the Bangladesh team by providing reliability and depth in batting. In his 344 runs he scored 2 valuable centuries against New Zealand & England and pivotal to bring his team to the quarterfinal. South African skipper AB de Villiers has emerged as the most fearsome batsman of the event, scoring 417 runs with 1 record-breaking ton and 2 fifties including a 99 runs against UAE. And, undisputedly he is the most decisive amongst competing skippers of the event, so can also lead the Team of the Group Round as well. Virat Kohli and Misbah ul Haq, unfortunately, join the reserves.    

Australian all rounder Glenn Maxwell impressed everyone by scoring 257 runs so far at an average of 64.25. His total comprises of one century and two fifties and though he bowled well in the Group Round but unfortunate that he could pile up just 3 wickets so far. On the other hand Pakistan best wicket taker Wahab Riaz has emerged as the 6th leading wicket taker and notched up 14 wickets maintaining a consistent performance. A single but distinctive fifty is also in his credit that earned him the Man of the Match award. The Kiwi all rounder Corey Anderson couldn’t make into the final eleven.

In spin department as expected Daniel Vettori, Ravichandaran Ashwin and Imran Tahir have been outstanding performers. Notwithstanding, Vettori has a wicket more than Ashwin but the Indian spinner is included not only because of his consistency in wicket taking but also his wickets are against stronger opponents.

Similarly in fast bowling the three qualified most dependable regular seamers are Australia’ Mitchell Starc , New Zealand’ Trent Boult and West indies Jerome Taylor. The three have got 16, 15 and 14 scalps respectively and complete the final eleven of this Team of the Group Round, as under;


                                                              Final Eleven

       Dhawan-Dilshan-Sangakkara- Mahmudullah -AB de Villiers-Maxwell-Ashwin- Wahab- Boult- Taylor-Starc


                                                                                     Reserve Bench

                                                                       Amla-Kohli-Misbah-Anderson

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