The A to Z of Cricket World Cup 2019: A fitting finale to a thrilling tournament

I- Injuries: Teams grappling with injuries was a constant theme of this World Cup. Dale Steyn was ruled out of the tournament just two matches into South Africa’s campaign. West Indies played a half-fit Andre Russell before he could no longer continue and was eventually ruled out. Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar’s WC journey ended abruptly due to injuries. Afghanistan’s wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad had to fly back after a knee injury. Usman Khawaja picked up an injury in the last group game and was ruled out for Australia’s semi-final. Marcus Stoinis, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy picked up minor injuries too.

J - Jofra, Jonny, Jos, Joe, Jason and James: England cricket team seems to love the alphabet 'J'. More than one-third of the 15-man squad, had their names starting with alphabet 'J'. And all the Js, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Jason Roy, James Vince of the English squad contributed to England’s success at some stage or the other. And guess what, a player who was withdrawn from the English squad at the last minute also had his name starting with 'J'. He goes by the name of Joe Denly.

K - Kane Williamson: His team was the second-best in the final, yet again justifying the saying 'nice guys finish last'. But, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was adjudged the Player of the Tournament at World Cup 2019. The soft-spoken Kiwi captain amassed 578 runs during the tournament hitting two hundreds and two fifties along the way. Williamson shouldered a failing batting lineup and marshalled his troops brilliantly.

L- Lord’s: Before the 2019 WC final, Lord’s had seen a British Guyanese lift back to back World Cup trophies in 1975 and 1979. Then it was the center where Kapil Dev’s daredevils did the unthinkable in 1983. In 1999 Steve Waugh lifted the trophy from the iconic Lord’s balcony and kick-started the Aussie dominance which continued for eight years. Now in 2019, Lord’s played host to what is being labelled as the ‘greatest ODI ever played’. Even before the 2019 WC final, Lord’s held the record of a single stadium hosting most WC finals.

M - Mitchell Starc: Mitchell Starc had another great WC with the ball. The left-arm quick picked 27 wickets in the tournament and breaking the record of 26 scalps in a single edition previously held by his countryman Glenn McGrath. For a second consecutive World Cup Starc finished at the top of the bowling charts. That itself is a new record!

N - Net Run Rate: Ask Pakistan about it! New Zealand and Pakistan finished the group stage with an equal number of points but New Zealand stumbled into the semis only because of a superior Net Run Rate. New Zealand had an NRR of 0.175 as against Pakistan’s -0.430. Many former cricketers, including Ian Bishop and Michael Vaughan criticized the usage of NRR to determine the qualifying teams. Pakistan coach, Mickey Arthur had also asked the ICC to consider the head-to-head stats instead. Considering that Pakistan had defeated finalists England and New Zealand in the league phases of the World Cup, NRR was a harsh way to seal the fate of a team.

O - Orange Jersey: The Men in Blue moved away from their traditional Blue jersey in India’s match against England as they wore an orange-blue jersey to distinguish themselves from hosts England. "I quite like it, I think it's right up there. For me it would be eight," Kohli rated the jersey on a scale one to 10. There had been some debate with regards to the choice of orange as the dominant colour with a section of the political class accusing the Central government of trying to 'saffronise' the sport.

P - Pitches: The first 500 total in limited-overs is still due. The 400-run mark was not reached in this WC but yet pitches in the tournament were a batting paradise. In 48 matches -off which four were washed out due to rains- the 300-run mark was breached 27 times. There were 31 hundreds and 114 fifties scored during the WC. Indian pace ace and World’s top ranked bowler Jasprit Bumrah said that the pitches in the tournament were the 'flattest tracks' he has ever bowled on. Enough said!

Source: Moneycontrol.com

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