#2 Some big names failing
Despite the world cup being a high-scoring tournament with many batting records broken, some of the leading batsmen failed to turn up. Mahela Jayawardene averaged 25 in his swansong event, Ahmed Shehzad was Pakistan’s second highest run getter but with average of just 32 and Eoin Morgan’s paltry average of 18 was one of the reasons why the Poms had to return home early.
Even amongst the Aussies, Aaron Finch averaged unimpressive 35 while Shane Watson got runs only after demotion in his batting order, finishing the event with average of 41. Among the two losing semi-finalists, there were host of batsmen who were just one innings wonders. So Virat Kohli despite average of 50 didn’t score when it mattered the most, Rohit Sharma averaged 47, but with one notable innings, as was case with Ajinkya Rahane (35). South African openers, Amla averaged 41 and his fellow opener Quinton de Kock just a paltry 18.
The failure of some of the leading batsmen, on whom their nation’s hopes were built upon, was tough to digest. Especially in a tournament where many batsmen from the not so fancied countries averaged above 67 - Sean Williams (68) and Brendon Taylor (72) from Zimbabwe, William Porterfield (67) from Ireland and Mahmudullah (73) from Bangladesh.
Check RCB Squad 2024 Details. Follow Sportskeeda for IPL 2024 Live Score, Schedule, Points Table