Welcome to our round-the-clock blog for World Cup 2019. Find all that’s buzzing on and off the field, here.
Here’s Cricbuzz’s pick for the best of World Cup 2019
- Upset
Sri Lanka beat England by 20 runs in Leeds
Eoin Morgan’s sarcastic ‘Sri Lanka are the surprise package of the tournament’ assessment ahead of the world cup came hauntingly true for his team as the Dimuth Karunaratne-led side stunned the hosts to not only bag two points but also open up the tournament and give England a real scare.
- Off-field controversy
Did he or did he not? It’s anybody’s guess. But when South Africa were struggling to get their World Cup campaign going, the AB de Villiers bombshell was the last thing they needed. Faf says it galvanised the dressing room, and we believe him, but they really could’ve done without such a distraction.
- Match
England vs New Zealand – the final: There ain’t no better in this world cup, there ain’t no better in any world cup. In fact, there ain’t no better ever ever in limited overs cricket. New Zealand and England played out the greatest ODI match in the final. That something, even as lame as a boundary-count, separated them was unfortunate. New Zealand didn’t deserve to be called the second-best. But with beauty and brilliance, there is also some cruelty in sports!
- Commentator
Ian Bishop — Just when the world was readying up for the sequel of ‘Remember the name’, a Carlos Brathwaite heartbreak had his signature booming voice stamped all over. “The dream is diminished in Manchester for Carlos Brathwaite,” his words this time.
- Quote
“Hum to doobe hai sanam, tujhe bhi le doobenge” – Gulbadin Naib
Even after a string of defeats, the Afghanistan skipper had his wits, poetry skills and swag intact as he sent out a warning to Bangladesh.
- Underperformer of the World Cup
Mashrafe Mortaza: The Bangladesh captain got one wicket in eight games. He averaged 361… with the ball. Need we say more?
- Overachiever of the World Cup
Alex Carey: In a line-up boasting of Warner, Finch, Maxwell, Smith, Carey stood out with his performances as well. His 375 runs came at a strike rate of 104.16 and averaged 62.50. More importantly, his knocks came in tough situations. Did we really see this coming?
Where should Dhoni have batted?
India are out but the analysis, the dissection, the post-game pondering is still going strong….
The biggest point of contention in India’ s defeat was MS Dhoni’s batting position. Even as they stumbled to 5 for 3, each of Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya walked out to bat before the former skipper.
Many strong voices felt he should’ve come up the order but Virat Kohli rubbished it saying it was a role given to Dhoni (of playing at No.7). Former captain Sunil Gavaskar was miffed by such a call too, and said: “At that stage (24 for 4) you did not need two players playing in the same mould.” Gavaskar’s talking about Pant and Pandya there and he has a point. Sachin Tendulkar gave a deeper insight when he said having MS Dhoni at No.5 instead of Dinesh Karthik would’ve gone a long way in helping Pant do much better than he did. And more importantly, not succumbing to pressure and looking for a release shot that got his wicket at a crucial juncture. Tendulkar felt Dhoni could’ve done with Pant and Pandya what he did with Ravindra Jadeja that eventually brought the team so close to a win after early sufferings. Again, a very valid argument there.
That’s one way to learn about this wonderful sport early in life…
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