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A look at the breakout stars of this World Cup who have made everyone sit up and take notice:
Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand)
Surely the Kiwi, whose name is an amalgamation of two legendary Indian batters – Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar- has turned heads in his debut World Cup.Rachin has batted with the assurance of a highly-experienced player and not someone who hasn’t even played 30 ODIs. Whatever the circumstance, whatever the match situation, batting first or batting second, opening the batting or coming one down or even two-down, Rachin has shown the composure of Dravid and also the aggression of Tendulkar in the middle. After the league phase, Rachin finished third in the list of highest run-getters in the ongoing World Cup behind Virat Kohli and Quinton de Kock. The 23-year-old Wellington-born southpaw amassed 565 runs in nine innings at an average of 70.62 and a strike-rate of 108.44. Three centuries and two half-centuries bear testimony to his consistency. His unbeaten 123 against England in the opening game of the World Cup paved the way for a historic win for the Black Caps. Rachin, whose father Ravi Krishnamurthy played club-level cricket in Bangalore before settling in New Zealand in 1997, also enjoyed decent returns with the ball.
Dilshan Madushanka (Sri Lanka)
Before the World Cup, the bowler widely expected to take wickets in his opening spell was Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi. But as the tournament progressed, Sri Lankan new ball bowler Dilshan Madushanka swung his way into the record books with most wickets in the first Powerplay overs. His off-cutter to Rohit Sharma at the Wankhede that sent the Indian captain’s stumps cart wheeling, has been one of the moments of the tournament. It was a clever piece of bowling by the left-arm pacer. As Rohit was expecting the ball to swing back in, he opened up his stance and the ball curled past the outside edge of his bat to rattle the stumps. Madushanka finished the tournament with 21 wickets from nine games at an average of 25.00 and a strike rate of 22.39, second in the list of highest wicket-takers after the league stage. Madushanka’s strength has been the amount of swing he gets with the new ball. He also bowls a deceptively quick bouncer.
Ibrahim Zadran (Afghanistan)
The Afghanistan opener’s upright stance, immaculate balance while playing strokes and assuredness in foot movement was impressive. Ibrahim swears by the text book. An immaculate technique helped the 21-yearold take on quality fast bowlers like Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf without much distress. His 87 against Pakistan helped Afghanistan gain a famous victory against the cross-border rivals. Zadran’s most memorable knock, however, was against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium. He stayed in the middle for the entire 50 overs and scored an elegant unbeaten 129. His brilliance helped Afghanistan post 291/5 and almost beat the five-time world champions but for Glenn Maxwell’s miraculous knock. Zadran finished the World Cup as Afghanistan’s highest run-scorer with 376 runs at an average of 47.00. His hundred against Australia was Afghanistan’s maiden century at World Cups. His nonchalant flick for a six to a 150kmph delivery by Starc has to be one of the shots of the tournament.
Gerald Coetzee (South Africa)
The stockily-built South African was hardly known by anyone before the World Cup, and not much was expected from him either. But 18 wickets in seven games at an average of 19.38 and a strike-rate of 18.16 has catapulted Coetzee to the third spot in the list of highest wicket-takers. He is now an integral part of the Proteas bowling lineup. Coetzee’s strength is bowling the ‘heavy ball’ during the middle-overs, and extract whatever bounce is there from the wicket. Coetzee has also shown variety in his bowling. He has a mix of slower deliveries in his armoury and can also touch speeds northwards of 145kmph. His strike-rate is only behind Mohammed Shami‘s (12.00) for bowlers who’ve at least picked 10 wickets in the league stage.
Azmatullah Omarzai (Afghanistan)
During batting, Azmatullah impressed with his power-hitting skills, while with the ball in hand, he conjured up impact spells. In the match against Australia, the 23-year-old picked up the wickets of David Warner and Josh Inglis with two jaffas. The ball to Warner hooped in the air from the eighth or ninth stump and struck the leg-stump, leaving the Aussie opener on his haunches. Inglis got a Dale Steyn-like fast outswinger from the offstump that he could only edge to the first slip. Omarzai also showed consistency with the bat, with assured knocks in the middle in games against India, Sri Lanka, Netherlands and South Africa. He finished with three half-centuries to his name, but would rue that the 97 against South Africa couldn’t be converted into a century. In this day and age that hasn’t seen many quality fast-bowling allrounders, Omarzai has the ability to carve a niche for himself.
Marco Jansen (South Africa)
It is a sight to see South Africa skipper Temba Bavuma do a high-five with the 6-foot 8″ tall Marco Jansen. The soft-spoken Jansen gave his mates 17 occasions to put the celebratory high-five with him during the league stage of the World Cup. And that’s with the ball. With the bat in hand, Jansen has smacked crucial lower order runs at a strike-rate of 111.34. He is an important cog in South Africa’s dreaded middle-order power-hitting wheel. Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klassen, David Miller and Jansen have helped South Africa bury games in the first half itself. His possesses a good range of shots, but the region from long off to deep midwicket is his favourite. With the new ball, Jansen has been deadly when the ball swings. His in-duckers to the right-hander have been a sight to see.
