2015 ICC Cricket World Cup: Top 10 batsmen

The highest ever team total in a World Cup match. The highest score by any player in a World Cup match. The first 200 in World Cup history. Four consecutive centuries and five consecutive fifties. These are just some of the individual and team records created in the just concluded 2015 ICC World Cup. In a tournament that was dominated largely by the bat, a slew of records were broken by batsmen at the peak of their powers.So who were the 10 best batsmen in the tournament? How many players from the World Cup finalists feature in the list? Is there a place for an Indian in the list? For all of that, simply read on.

#10 Misbah-ul-Haq

Runs: 350, Average: 50, Strike Rate: 75.1

There are some players who get an easy ride, no matter what they do. Then there are others who simply can't catch a break and are criticised, even when they perform well. Misbah-ul-Haq falls under the latter category. Pakistan's captain called time on his ODI career on the back of a successful tournament in which he finished as the tenth-highest run scorer of the tournament.

On quite a few occasions, Misbah has been left to fight a lone war against the opposition and although he came out on top, he was still criticised for batting too slowly and not accelerating well enough. At 40, the right-hander will continue captaining the Test side and will be hoping for some sort of reprieve from the passionate Pakistani fans who had been calling for his head.

#9 Sean Williams

Runs: 339, Average: 67.8, Strike Rate: 109

At number nine on the list of top ten batsmen of the tournament is the first of two Zimbabwean cricketers. Although he made his ODI debut 10 years ago against South Africa, Sean Williams has only managed to play 75 ODIs. Apart from the opening game in which he was dismissed cheaply, Williams has had a stunning World Cup with the bat.

Although he didn’t score a single century, his tally of four fifties is only beaten by Steven Smith with five. More than his runs, the way in which he scored them has been more telling. With the loss of Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe will be looking to rebuild their middle order. On the back of his performances in the World Cup, it looks as though he might be the right batsman to take charge.

#8 Tillakaratne Dilshan

Runs: 395, Average: 65.8, Strike Rate: 96.6

While Sri Lanka's exit in the quarter-finals came as a shock to many, the story of their tournament was Kumar Sangakkara. But lost amidst the nostalgia surrounding Sangakkara's retirement has been Tillakaratne Dilshan's performances. After a slow start, the right-hander scored two hundreds and a fifty in his next four innings as he helped cement the side's position in the group stages.

His unbeaten 161 against Bangladesh was the innings of a mature Dilshan coming towards the end of his career, rather than the flashy one who used to chance his arm every now and then. At 38, he is unlikely to carry on for much longer and the task for Sri Lanka to rebuild, post Sanga and Mahela Jayawardene, only gets harder when the right-hander finally calls it quits.

#7 Glenn Maxwell

Runs: 324, Average: 64.8, Strike Rate: 182

There are elegant and graceful batsmen who caress the ball. There are powerful and brutal hitters who want to smash the cover of the ball. And then there is Glenn Maxwell. Even if you tried to look into a batsman's catalogue of shots, you will struggle to name some of the shots that Maxwell plays.

So outrageous are his antics with the bat that it is necessary to simply forget about classic, orthodox batting and simply enjoy when he is at the crease, for you always know something is going to happen. While The 'Big Show' has always had the potential, this tournament marks a watershed moment for the 26-year-old, as he finally showed that he can be consistent as well as creative.

#6 Shikhar Dhawan

Runs: 412, Average: 51.5, Strike Rate: 91.7

Going into the World Cup, many, including this writer, questioned whether Shikhar Dhawan should even be in the side. His inability to cope under swinging, seaming conditions are well documented. But through sheer grit, determination and some luck, the southpaw finished as India's leading run scorer in the tournament and became only the fourth Indian batsman to score over 400 runs in a World Cup.

His two centuries also helped him join an elite list of cricketers, which include the likes of Sanath Jayasuriya, Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting, to have scored two centuries in a single edition of the World Cup.

#5 Brendan Taylor

Runs: 433, Average: 72.2, Strike Rate: 106.9

While Sangakkara left ODI cricket to ensure that his spot is taken by someone else for the next World Cup, Brendan Taylor's retirement felt more like a man wanting to secure his own future rather than that of his country. Whatever the reasons, no one can blame him for not giving everything in his final tournament.

The 29-year-old finished with back-to-back centuries against Ireland and India, a total of 433 runs at an average of over 70. Unfortunately for Zimbabwe, his heroics weren't enough to see them out of the group stages. But one thing is for sure, not only will the African side miss their captain and gloveman, they will also miss the experience of Taylor in the middle order whether it is in constructing an innings or calmly calculating a run chase.

#4 AB de Villiers

Runs: 482, Average: 96.4, Strike Rate: 144.3

At times, when you are watching an athlete do what he does best, you simply have to stand up, applaud and thank your lucky stars that you were privileged enough to be alive to watch them strut their stuff. When AB de Villiers is at the crease, it is something similar. The South African skipper has every shot in the book and can hit you into any corner of the ground.

In his hands, the cricket bat feels less like a piece of wood and more like a weapon of mass destruction. Fresh from breaking the world record for the fastest ODI hundred, the 31-year-old broke the record for the fastest 150 against West Indies in this tournament. And if it wasn't for rain, he could have very well seen the Proteas through to their first World Cup final. For now though, an average of almost 100 and a strike rate of almost 150 is enough to see him in third place.

#3 Steven Smith

Runs: 402, Average: 67, Strike Rate: 91.6

Australia's batting throughout the World Cup was far from impressive. Although different batsmen came through at different times, no one was consistent throughout the entire tournament. No one that is, apart from Steven Smith, who simply cannot stop scoring. Although his tally of runs is nowhere near the best by an Australian in a World Cup, he created a tournament record by becoming the first player to score five consecutive fifties.

His match-winning hundred in the semi-final and fifty in the final showcased that he had the stomach for the big occasions. At 25, Australia will be hoping that Smith can continue scoring runs for the foreseeable future.

#2 Martin Guptill

At the start of the tournament, Martin Guptill's place in the side was being questioned. But when the curtain came down on the 2015 World Cup, the opening batsman finished as the tournament's leading run-scorer, having hit the most fours and with the record for the highest score in a World Cup match.

Yet, the most impressive aspect of the 28-year-old's performance wasn't the fact that he finished as the leading run-scorer. It was, rather, the fact that the majority of his runs came in the knockout stages of the competition, including his 237 against West Indies in the quarter-finals.

#1 Kumar Sangakkara

Runs: 541, Average: 108.2, Strike Rate: 105.9

Throughout his career, Kumar Sangakkara has always been an elegant and stylish batsman. Some thought that he was perhaps too stylish and orthodox for limited-overs cricket, but the 37-year-old signed off from ODIs with Bradman-esque figures. In his final tournament, the southpaw finished with 541 runs at an average of 108 and a strike rate of 105.

While the numbers itself, which included a run of four consecutive centuries - a World Cup record, are impressive, what is even more impressive is his ability to adapt even towards the end of his career. His ability to evolve is the reason why he finishes his career as the second-leading run scorer in ODIs and as one of the few cricketers who have been able to leave the game on a high note.