Cricket World Cup History: 5 Forgotten Heroes of the 2015 World Cup 

The ICC Cricket World Cup, the biggest spectacle of the sport, is all set to kick off with hosts England and South Africa locking horns in the inaugural encounter.

England, who were eliminated in the group stage of the 2015 edition, have undergone a comprehensive revival and played a great brand of cricket, due to which they have been labelled as favourites to lift the title. This has been possible due to the backing and developing the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy and Ben Stokes.

Similarly, other teams have also undergone numerous changes and revamped their squad, by adding match winners like Jasprit Bumrah (India), Marcus Stoinis (Australia), Shai Hope (West Indies) and Rashid Khan (Afghanistan).

In this process, a number of players, who were integral elements of their World cup squads and made a crucial contribution in the previous edition of the showdown event were overlooked. Let's have a look at some of these players:

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#5 Josh Hazlewood (Australia)

Josh Hazlewood was the Man of the Match in the Quarter Final

Josh Hazlewood was one of the premier bowlers of Australia in the 2015 World Cup. He brought balance into the side by giving good support as a right-handed exponent of pace to left-arm seamers Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson.

Hazlewood was given a go in only 5 games, yet he managed to take 7 wickets in those encounters. Though he did not have his name in the share of wickets, the then 24-year old was very economical and made a good impression in each encounter.

Hazlewood's ouster came as the most shocking decision from the Australian selectors, who deemed fitness issues and a lack of match practice as the reasons behind this decision.

The former World No.1, who recovered from a back injury in January this year, missed out on a second chance to make it to the defending champions' squad as a replacement for Jhye Richardson, with the selectors giving a nod to Kane Richardson.

His stand-out performance in the 2015 edition came in the quarter-final against Pakistan, claiming 4/35 in his quota of 10 overs. Josh received the Man of the Match award for his spell in the quarter-final.

#4 Suresh Raina (India)

Raina scored a fantastic century against Zimbabwe

The dashing southpaw was one of the most exciting talents on display in the previous edition of the quadrennial event in Australia and New Zealand. Raina was one of the most trusted players of erstwhile captain MS Dhoni, with the capability of finishing the innings as well as applying a brake on the opposition's flow of runs with his effective off-spin.

Batting at No.5 throughout the tournament, Raina made crucial contributions whenever the team was in a critical situation. He emerged as the crisis man for India in the games against Pakistan, Zimbabwe and the quarter-final against Bangladesh. While he made quickfire fifties against the Asian rivals, Raina scored an unbeaten century against Zimbabwe, coming in at a precarious situation of 92-4 in pursuit of a target of 288.

The all-rounder was last seen in Indian colours in 2018 against England, with a hope to solve the middle-order muddle for India. However, he did not have a very good outing and has been out of international circuit since then.

#3 Corey Anderson (New Zealand)

Corey Anderson played a crucial role in NZ's run to the finals

The hard-hitting Kiwi had announced his arrival to the cricketing world by shattering the 18-year old record of the fastest century set by Shahid Afridi, by smashing a 36-ball hundred against the Windies in 2014. Just a year later, Anderson exhibited that he was the player made for the big stages.

The southpaw gave a blistering start to co-hosts New Zealand in the tournament, smashing a 46-ball 75 and picking up 2 wickets. He made regular and crucial contributions for New Zealand throughout the tournament, being equally impressive with both the bat and the ball.

Anderson scored 231 runs from 8 innings and registered 14 scalps, and was one of the main reasons in New Zealand's inspired run to their first World Cup Final.

His most important contribution came in the Semi-Final against South Africa, where he made a brisk 57-ball-58, stitching a crucial 103-run stand with Grant Elliot for the fifth wicket. This stand was the one that steered the Kiwis to victory and sealed their berth in the final.

Anderson has been struggling with injuries since 2017, last dawning the ODI jersey in the Champions Trophy back in 2017. He was in contention for the World Cup berth till February, however, the all-rounder's spot was claimed by Jimmy Neesham.

#2 Umesh Yadav (India)

Umesh Yadav was the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament

The 2015 World Cup saw India emerge as a bowling powerhouse, in contrast to their traditional image of batting juggernauts. The Indian bowlers succeeded to bowl out the opposition in 7 consecutive games. This attack was led by Umesh Yadav, who provided constant breakthroughs for the then defending champions.

Umesh Yadav spearheaded the pace attack comprising of Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He was in terrific form in the 2015 tournament and made the most out of the pace-friendly pitches of Australia and New Zealand.

The right-arm pacer finished as the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament, with 18 scalps to his name in 8 games. Yadav took two consecutive four-fers, in the quarter-final and semi-final clashes against Bangladesh and Australia respectively.

However, Yadav has been in and out of the team since the sporting extravaganza of 2015. With the emergence of Jasprit Bumrah and the comeback of Mohammed Shami, Yadav lost his place in the Indian squad.

He was in contention for the WC as the fourth seamer, however, the selectors backed all-rounder Hardik Pandya to fill in those shoes which came as an abrupt call to the hopes of Yadav.

#1 James Faulkner (Australia)

James Faulkner was the Man of the Final in the 2015 World Cup

The cross dominant Australian was the death overs specialist for Australia, equally adept with the bat and the ball. Faulkner was capable of deceiving the batsmen towards the end, especially with his slower ball. He was also one of the best finishers along with Glenn Maxwell and Brad Haddin.

Faulkner got limited opportunities to demonstrate his capability with the bat, playing good cameos against Scotland and in the semi final against India. However, the left-arm pacer impressed one and all with his bowling. He emerged as the third highest wicket taker for Australia, with 10 scalps from 6 games.

His stand-out performance came in the all-important final clash, as he ran through the middle order of New Zealand, when their innings was in a recovery phase, getting the wickets of set batsmen Ross Taylor and Grant Elliot. He also dismissed the hard hitting Corey Anderson for a duck, thereby claiming three wickets. Faulkner was awarded the Man of the Match in the title clash for his prowess with the ball.

Fortunes have drastically changed for the Aussie all-rounder, who is no longer a regular feature in the playing XI. Faulkner last represented Australia in ODIs in 2017, and post that, his falling graph, coupled with the phenomenal rise of Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Coulter-Nile saw him lose his spot.