Flop XI of the 2023 ODI World Cup ft. Steve Smith and Haris Rauf 

After 45 days of enthralling action, the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 culminated on Sunday (November 19) with Australia beating India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Despite starting the match as slight favorites, the Men in Blue proved to be the second-best team throughout the summit clash. They were eventually defeated by six wickets, bringing their record-breaking campaign to an end on a low note.

Travis Head (137) and Marnus Labuschagne's (58*) fourth-wicket stand of 192 runs helped Australia cruise to their sixth men's ODI World Cup.

Virat Kohli couldn't hide his dejection when he went out to receive the "Player of the Tournament" award. The modern-day legend had a stupendous campaign, where he racked up 765 runs at an immaculate average of 95.62, including six fifties and three hundreds.

While the likes of Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Rohit Sharma, David Warner, and Adam Zampa performed exceedingly well in the 2023 ODI World Cup, there were certain individuals who were at the other end of the spectrum as well. Amid the anticipation and excitement surrounding the tournament, these individuals faced challenges that led to disappointing performances on the field.

On that note, let's take a look at the "Flop XI" of the 2023 ODI World Cup.

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Openers: Temba Bavuma and Kusal Perera

Temba Bavuma after South Africa's loss against Australia [Getty Images]

Where most of the openers did well for their teams, Temba Bavuma and Kusal Perera didn't click at all.

Bavuma, in particular, faced a lot of backlash due to his subpar performances. In a team where almost every other South African batter excelled in their role, it was skipper Bavuma who fared poorly.

The right-hander, who had an average of around 80 prior to the World Cup this year, scored just 145 runs at an average of 18.12 across eight innings. He failed to notch up even a single half-century in the tournament, due to which South Africa had to endure at least one early hiccup.

Similarly, Kusal Perera disappointed the Sri Lankan fans as well. Sri Lanka would have hoped for Perera to give them quick starts, but the 33-year-old made just 147 runs at a poor average of 21.28.

It didn't come as a surprise when Sri Lanka replaced him with Dimuth Karunaratne for a couple of games at the back end of the league stage.

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Middle-order: Joe Root, Steve Smith, Tom Latham (wk) and Jos Buttler

Steve Smith after getting out vs India in the semi-final [Getty Images]

Who would've thought that the likes of Joe Root, Steve Smith, and Jos Buttler would feature in this XI?

The three world-class batters, who are great against both spin and pace, play a crucial role for their respective teams. However, none of them lit up the quadrennial tournament this time around.

Counted amongst the modern-day 'Fab 4', both Root and Smith were expected to rack up huge runs in the tournament. Unfortunately for them, the 2023 ODI World Cup saw relatively fruitless versions of both.

Root made 276 runs at an average of 30.66 across nine innings. He started his campaign on a great note, adding 159 runs in his first two games. However, in his next seven innings, Root could make only 117 runs at an average of 16.17.

Smith, meanwhile, proved to be one of the few underperforming Australian players. He accumulated 302 runs at an average of 33.55 and a strike rate of 80.96. While these numbers don't look appalling, Smith scored the majority of his runs against the Netherlands (77) and Bangladesh (63*).

Jos Buttler dejected after getting dismissed [Getty Images]

At number five and six are two wicket-keepers in Tom Latham and Jos Buttler. These are also two big names, but they both failed to deliver with the willow in the tournament.

Latham, who is one of the better New Zealand players of spin bowling, could make a total of 155 runs at an average of 25.83. While he did notch up two fifties, both of them came quite early in the tournament. Latham made 53 and 68 against the Netherlands and Afghanistan, respectively.

Jos Buttler had an even poorer World Cup campaign. The English captain amassed only 138 runs at an abysmal average of 15.33 across nine innings. His highest score during the whole tournament was 43, which came in the opening game against New Zealand.

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All-rounders: Iftikhar Ahmed and Moeen Ali

Iftikhar Ahmed for Pakistan [Getty Images]

The Flop XI features two all-rounders in Iftikhar Ahmed and Moeen Ali. Neither of the two individuals made any significant impact with their all-round skills.

Pakistan would have hoped for Iftikhar to do the finishing job with the bat, and also sneak out some useful spells in the middle overs. But the 33-year-old batted across eight innings and made only 142 runs, even if he did have a good strike rate of 115.44.

With the ball, Iftikhar bowled a total of 48 overs and managed to pick up four wickets, with his best bowling figures being 1/16.

Moeen Ali, meanwhile, disappointed big time with his batting. The elegant left-hander made just 95 runs at a substandard average of 15.83 in six 2023 World Cup innings. His off-spin bowling helped him bag five wickets at a poor bowling average of just under 50.

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Bowlers: Haris Rauf, Mark Wood and Mustafizur Rahman

Haris Rauf for Pakistan [Getty Images]

Three pacer bowlers - Haris Rauf, Mark Wood and Mustafizur Rahman - complete this imaginary XI. While Rauf and Wood are genuine hit-the-deck speedsters, Mustafizur is known for his cutters and excellent yorkers.

With Naseem Shah being ruled out of the entire tournament, Haris Rauf needed to deliver for Pakistan. However, the right-armer was taken to the cleaners by opposition batters. Despite getting hammered square of the boundaries he consistently pitched short deliveries, which most of the batters took advantage of.

Rauf conceded 533 runs, which made him the bowler with the most runs conceded in a single ODI World Cup edition. Although he took 16 wickets across nine innings, his economy rate of 6.74 was the worst among the bowlers who bowled 70 overs or more.

Another right-arm pacer in the team would be England's Mark Wood. The fact that Wood's batting was far more entertaining than his bowling sums up the campaign for him. The 33-year-old picked up just six wickets at a shoddy average of 58.16 and an economy rate of 6.46 across seven innings.

At No. 11 is Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman, who failed to provide enough breakthroughs for his team. Despite being the most experienced pacer in his team, the left-arm pacer managed to pick up just five wickets at an appalling average and strike rate of 79.60 and 78.8, respectively.

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Flop XI of the 2023 ODI World Cup

Temba Bavuma, Kusal Perera, Joe Root, Steve Smith, Tom Latham (wk), Jos Buttler, Iftikhar Ahmed, Moeen Ali, Haris Rauf, Mark Wood and Mustafizur Rahman