World Cup 2019: Week 6 - Best Playing XI of the Week

The group stage of ICC World Cup 2019 is done and dusted. The first round kicked off with the hosts crushing the South African team while it ended with the Proteas ending Australia's 5-game winning streak in the second half. India, Australia, England and New Zealand emerged as the top 4 teams of the group stage and these 4 nations will now lock horns in the knockout matches to determine the winner.

In the final week of round 1, we saw a plethora of match-winning performances from the players of Pakistan, India, South Africa and England. Though the Men in Green could not make it to the semis, their young fast bowler, Shaheen Afridi impressed everyone with his 6-wicket haul against Bangladesh.

A total of 7 matches were played in the 6th week of the World Cup and, here is the best playing XI of the week.

Openers: KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma

Matches - 2, Runs - 188, Average - 94, Fours - 17, Sixes - 2

Replacing Shikhar Dhawan as the team's opener, KL Rahul has played like a true champion. Though Rahul had not played a big innings in the first phase of the tournament, he bounced back really well in the second phase and he ended the group stage with 188 runs in the final 2 games.

Rahul ended his drought of centuries with a marvellous hundred versus Sri Lanka in the 44th match of the tournament.

Matches - 2, Runs - 207, Average - 103.5, Fours - 21, Sixes - 7

The Hitman, Rohit Sharma continued his fine form in the 2019 World Cup as he slammed two more hundreds in the final week of the group stage. Rohit hit his 4th century of this World Cup against Bangladesh before registering his 5th one in the game versus Sri Lanka.

It won't be an understatement to say that Rohit Sharma's form will decide whether India will win the World Cup or not.

Also see – Australia vs England head to head stats

Middle Order: Shakib Al Hasan, Faf du Plessis (c) and Nicholas Pooran (wk)

Matches - 2, Runs - 130, Average - 65, Fours - 12, Wicket - 1

Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan stunned everyone with his performances in the 2019 World Cup. Shakib took up the number 3 position of the Bangladeshi batting line-up and scored over 600 runs in the tournament. In week 6, Shakib scored two half-tons against heavyweights India and Pakistan.

Though his team did not win either of the matches and is also out of the semifinals, Al Hasan's performance will go down as one of the best individual performances in World Cup history.

Match - 1, Runs - 100, Average - 100, Fours - 7, Sixes - 2

Faf du Plessis hit his first hundred of the 2019 World Cup is the last match of the group stage of the World Cup. This was the first century from any South African batsman in this tournament which shows why they finished at the 7th position in the points table.

Nevertheless, Du Plessis helped his team record a memorable win over Australia in their last match.

Matches - 2, Runs - 176, Average - 88, Fours - 17, Sixes - 5

The most underrated player of the West Indies team, Nicholas Pooran put up a solid batting performance for his team in the final week. In the first fixture of the week, Pooran scored a magnificent hundred versus Sri Lanka, however, he could not take his team over the line.

In West Indies' final match, Pooran hit a quick half-century to help his team reach 311/6 in the match against Afghanistan. The left-handed batsman emerged as the best wicket-keeper batsman of the week.

Also read - Most centuries in world cup

All-rounders: Jason Holder and Mohammad Saifuddin

Matches - 2, Runs - 71, Sixes - 4, Wickets - 2, Catches - 3

West Indies' skipper, Jason Holder shone for his team in all the three departments. He played a quickfire knock of 45 runs against Afghanistan before taking 2 crucial wickets versus Sri Lanka. The tall Caribbean player even took a couple of tough catches on the boundary rope in the second match.

Unfortunately, Holder's side has not made it to the final 4, but, the all-rounder entertained the fans with his skills.

Mohammad Saifuddin hit a half-century versus India

Matches - 2, Runs - 51, Average - 51, Fours - 9, Wickets - 3

Bangladeshi all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin surprised the Indian fans with a fighting 51* in the 40th match of the 2019 World Cup. He hit boundaries with ease and took Bangladesh near to India's score but he couldn't win the game for his team.

In the team's final group stage encounter, Saifuddin scalped 3 wickets including that of Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam to help his compatriot Mustafizur Rahman in restricting the Pakistani team.

Also read - Most ducks in world cup

Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi, Mustafizur Rahman and Kemar Roach

Match - 2, Wickets - 7, Best Figures - 4/55, Maidens - 3

Jasprit Bumrah destroyed Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with his pace bowling skills to ensure that the Men in Blue occupy the top position in the points table. The Gujarati fast bowler picked a 4-wicket haul before dismissing 3 Sri Lankan batsmen to emerge as the highest wicket-taker of the week for India.

He will be the team's vital cog in the semifinal against New Zealand as well.

Match - 1, Wickets - 6, Economy Rate - 3.82

Pakistani fast bowler Shaheen Afridi got his name on the Lord's Honours Board thanks to his 6-wicket haul in Pakistan's final group match. The left-arm pacer outclassed the Bangladeshi batsmen with his fast bowling in the second innings.

Bangladesh's batting line-up was in great form heading into that fixture but Shaheen's deliveries proved to be very dangerous for them.

Matches - 2, Wickets - 10, Best Figures - 5/59, Maiden - 1

Another Asian left-arm fast bowler to feature in this playing XI is Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman. The talismanic left-armer picked 2 five-wicket hauls in the final week of the first round, however, both of them went in vain as his side failed to win a single match.

Nevertheless, Mustafizur finished as the second most successful bowler in the group stage of ICC World Cup 2019 on the back of his 2 five-wicket hauls.

Match - 1, Wickets - 3, Economy Rate - 3.70, Maidens - 2

West Indian pacer, Kemar Roach completes the best playing XI of this week on the back of his clinical spell versus Afghanistan. Roach took 3 wickets for 37 runs in his 10 overs. He did not feature in the West Indies playing XI against Sri Lanka but he troubled the Afghan batsmen when he received a place in the team.