World Cup 2019: Best XI made up of  unsung heroes

Ravindra Jadeja - the unsung hero for India
Ravindra Jadeja - the unsung hero for India

#All-rounders

Carlos Brathwaite, Imad Wasim, Ravindra Jadeja

Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies)
Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies)

Carlos Brathwaite's maiden ODI century against New Zealand was probably the innings of the World Cup, although it came in a losing cause. The match situation in which Brathwaite scored his hundred was worth remembering.

Needing 128 runs to win with just 3 wickets in hand, Carlos “remember the name” Brathwaite went after the New Zealand bowling with total abandon. In the end, West Indies finished just a single hit away from winning the match.

Brathwaite took 9 wickets in the tournament and he is the fast-bowling all-rounder in this team.

Imad Wasim (Pakistan)
Imad Wasim (Pakistan)

Imad Wasim showed his aggressive intent with the bat against India by scoring a belligerent 46 off 39 balls. However, his efforts came too late in the day to cause any upset and rewrite history.

Still, that innings boosted his confidence massively and prepared him to play two crucial cameos against Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

In two back-to-back must-win games, Wasim scored 49 and 43 to keep Pakistan’s hopes alive till the very end. His bowling economy of 4.82 means he will play as an all-rounder in this team.

Ravindra Jadeja (India)
Ravindra Jadeja (India)

It is a pity that Ravindra Jadeja got an opportunity to play in the World Cup only in India’s last league match against Sri Lanka. The team management was so obsessed with the strategy of playing two wrist-spinners that they failed to recognize the other facets that Jadeja could bring to the table.

But even before making it to the playing XI, Jadeja made a huge contribution on the field as a substitute fielder.

When he finally got his opportunity, Jadeja finished with bowling figures of 10-0-40-1. But his major contribution with both bat and ball came in the semi-final against New Zealand.

Bowling first, Jadeja came up with economical figures of 1 for 34 in 10 overs. And while batting, Jadeja and Dhoni very nearly pulled off a miracle for India after the collapse at the top.

Coming in at a hopeless situation at 92 for 6, Jadeja hit his way out of trouble with an incredible 77 off 59 balls. While none of the top order batsmen from either side managed a strike rate of above 80 on a slow wicket, Jadeja galloped at an astonishing strike rate of 130.

Jadeja is the third all-rounder in the team.

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