Team of the Pool Stages

Pick your team of the 45 pool matches, but to make this harder you must pick a player from each of the ten teams.

Can my England pick be the boundary at edgbaston?

Roy
Warner
Rohit
Shakib
Shahidis helmet
Andre Russel for sheer guts ( and lack of pickable candidates)
Ferguson
Starc
Amir
Tahir
Malinga ( do I really have to pick a Sri lankan? )


I'm struggling to think of a keeper who's really stood out. Butlers done some good things but been quiet by his standards with the bat.
De Kock hit a match winning score yesterday ( and a ridiculous run out) but that was a dead rubber and hes largely been AWOL. I guess he could swap for Tahir as the side above is too bowler heavy at the moment.

1. Roy
2. Rohit
3. Shakib
4. du Plessis
5. Stokes
6. Alikhil
7. Wasim
8. Brathwaite
9. Ferguson
10. Malinga
11. Starc

No stand out options for a keeper, I've gone with the Afghanistan keeper who played a good knock against the West Indies.

3 bowlers at 9-11 who have all taken a number of wickets. Imad and Brathwaite offer bowling options and some late order hitting.

Stokes and Shakib are my batting all rounders, which gives me 7 bowling options in total, which is more than enough. Du Plessis also in that middle order after his match-winning ton against Australia.

Rohit is a cert at the top and there are a number of openers with very good records over the group stage, but for me no-one has transformed a side quite as much as Roy has since he came back. He's therefore in not just for the runs he scored, but also for the impact he's had.

Warner
Rohit
Williamson
Shakib
Young Afghan Keeper (can't remember his name)
Van der Dussen
Braithwate
Archer
Malinga
Amir
Bumrah

Not entirely happy with the balance, but having to fit in Afghanistan, SL and Windies players is a problem.

Good question!

Roy
Rohit
Shakib
Van Der Dussen
Pooran
Neesham
Alikhil (wk)
Starc
Malinga
Amir
Bumrah

Warner
Rohit
Root
Williamson
Stokes
Bairstow+
Pandya
Starc
Wahab
Bumrah
Chahl

Kpf - got to be at least one player per team

James100 wrote:Kpf - got to be at least one player per team

Ohh Maan that makes it hard....lemme try again


Warner
Rohit
Shakib
Williamson
Stokes
Hope+
Angelo Matthews
Starc
Rabada
Wahab
Rashid

Having set the challenge, I should have a stab at making a team.

First thoughts were to include Rohit, Starc, Shakib and Carey as the leading run scorer, leading wicket keeper, best all rounder and leading keeper. But I also have to look at the less successful teams and find some names:

Rashid Khan came into the competition with a massive reputation driven by IPL and successes against lower tier teams. He has been a massive disappointment. Thus, as with others, I go with one of the oldest looking 18 year olds I have seen and select the keeper Ikram Alikhil.

For the West Indies the tournament has held a lot of what iffs, starting with the game against Australia. Their batting has too often misfired with Nicholas Pooran the standout. Sheldon Cottrell has worked tirelessly, and for me took the best catch of the tournament, but in the end I look at the guys who if fully fit could have given WI a real chance of making more form this tournament. "Dre Russ" gave hints of his ability - more with the ball where he had opponents jumping. However in the end I have opted for Kemar Roach. When they could get him on the pitch his bowling was excellent - lively, fierce, wicket-taking yet economical.

Bangladesh has to be Shakib, with a shout out to Mustafizur.

For SA two old timers shone. Faf was the main man with the bat, but I have gone with Imran Tahir. In a tournament where wrist spin was meant to be key, he was the only one to deliver the goods.

For Sri Lanka Avshika Fernando came in half way through and indicated they may have a star for the future. However for fighting against the dimming of the light and some match winning performances I have to consider either Angelo Mathews or Lasith Malinga.

Four contenders from Pakistan - Babar Azam, Imad Wasim, Mohammend Amir and Shaheen Afridi.

New Zealand have struggled with top order runs, except for their captain. While Lockie Fergusan has bowled with menace and could cause India some issues, Kane Williamson has to make the team.

In what has at times been a stuttering campaign, Roy, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Archer & Wood have all put in strong performances across a number of games, while skipper Morgan had the most eyecatching of cameos.

Warner, Carey, Finch and Starc have been the standout performers for Australia.

For India Rohit and Kohli have been the standouts with the bat, and despite playing just 4 games, Shami with the ball.

My team:

Rohit
Warner
Williamson
Shakib
Mathews
Stokes
Alikhil
Starc
Afridi
Roach
Tahir.

I look at it now and that is a long tail - but the batting power up top and the various bowling options look pretty good.

I haven't watched enough of the 'minnows' to have a proper stab at Tiger's searching challenge. However, I thought Neesham was a good call by James.

LondonTiger wrote:Having set the challenge, I should have a stab at making a team.

First thoughts were to include Rohit, Starc, Shakib and Carey as the leading run scorer, leading wicket keeper, best all rounder and leading keeper. But I also have to look at the less successful teams and find some names:

Rashid Khan came into the competition with a massive reputation driven by IPL and successes against lower tier teams. He has been a massive disappointment. Thus, as with others, I go with one of the oldest looking 18 year olds I have seen and select the keeper Ikram Alikhil.

For the West Indies the tournament has held a lot of what iffs, starting with the game against Australia. Their batting has too often misfired with Nicholas Pooran the standout. Sheldon Cottrell has worked tirelessly, and for me took the best catch of the tournament, but in the end I look at the guys who if fully fit could have given WI a real chance of making more form this tournament. "Dre Russ" gave hints of his ability - more with the ball where he had opponents jumping. However in the end I have opted for Kemar Roach. When they could get him on the pitch his bowling was excellent - lively, fierce, wicket-taking yet economical.

Bangladesh has to be Shakib, with a shout out to Mustafizur.

For SA two old timers shone. Faf was the main man with the bat, but I have gone with Imran Tahir. In a tournament where wrist spin was meant to be key, he was the only one to deliver the goods.

For Sri Lanka Avshika Fernando came in half way through and indicated they may have a star for the future. However for fighting against the dimming of the light and some match winning performances I have to consider either Angelo Mathews or Lasith Malinga.

Four contenders from Pakistan - Babar Azam, Imad Wasim, Mohammend Amir and Shaheen Afridi.

New Zealand have struggled with top order runs, except for their captain. While Lockie Fergusan has bowled with menace and could cause India some issues, Kane Williamson has to make the team.

In what has at times been a stuttering campaign, Roy, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Archer & Wood have all put in strong performances across a number of games, while skipper Morgan had the most eyecatching of cameos.

Warner, Carey, Finch and Starc have been the standout performers for Australia.

For India Rohit and Kohli have been the standouts with the bat, and despite playing just 4 games, Shami with the ball.

My team:

Rohit
Warner
Williamson
Shakib
Mathews
Stokes
Alikhil
Starc
Afridi
Roach
Tahir.

I look at it now and that is a long tail - but the batting power up top and the various bowling options look pretty good.

This is quite a good team, however I would like to put some changes.

I think Mathews should be replaced by either of Faf, Kohli and Finch. In that you could include one captain also.

Seems like Alikhil is the Wicket keeper here. I would love to go with Carey or Musfiqur of BD.

Again Bumrah impressed more than Kemar roach.

I know rules are for including one from each team but successful XI may drop some teams.

The thing I noticed is there were a lot of accumulators I wanted to put in, and not a lot of hitters.

The "proper batsman" in Root, Williamson, Shakib, Babar, du Plessis have all gone well but to varying degrees they're all touch players and you wouldn't want to load a middle order with too many of them.

Some hitters who have come in with big reputations and not come off include Maxwell (average 22), Pandya (average 32), Buttler (average 32), although all 3 are all rounders (either bowling or keeper/batsman). Even with the low averages, you'd take one of them if they'd put in a genuine match-winning performance, but with 1 ton between them (Buttler's against Pakistan) it's hard to include them.

Looking at averages, the players to average over 50 and strike at more than a run a ball other than openers (Roy, Dhawan, Finch) and lower order players who were boosted by not outs (Carey, Wasim) were Pooran and Fernando (who only played 4 innings). So if you were building a team to actually play maybe you'd have to include one or both of those? Looking again, I'd put Pooran in for Braithwaite in my team above.

But this is why I included Stokes as my England player. Averaged 54 @ 95, but that doesn't really tell the full story. Scored four 50s for England, better than a run a ball in two games England won (South Africa and India) and slower when he needed to stick in (Sri Lanka and Australia). Although he couldn't get England over the line in either game, he ran out of partners against Sri Lanka and got a brute of a yorker from Starc against Australia. I think he's been one of our most important players, after Roy.

Official team of the tournament (no restrictions on picking someone from all countries) 

1. Jason Roy (England) - 443 runs at average of 63.28
2. Rohit Sharma (India) - 648 runs at 81.00
3. Kane Williamson, capt (New Zealand) - 578 runs at 82.57
4. Joe Root (England) - 556 runs at 61.77
5. Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) - 606 runs at 86.57, 11 wickets at average of 36.27
6. Ben Stokes (England) - 465 runs at 66.42, seven wickets at 35.14
7. Alex Carey (wk) (Australia) - 375 runs at 62.50, 20 dismissals
8. Mitchell Starc (Australia) - 27 wickets at 18.59
9. Jofra Archer (England) - 20 wickets at 23.05
10. Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand) - 21 wickets at 19.47
11. Jasprit Bumrah (India) - 18 wickets at 20.61

Probably needs scoring rates included to really underline certain players (Roys) impact. 


Williamson got player of the tournament, presumably for his consistency. Kinda feel Shakib deserves it more, scored more runs in 2 less innings at a better speed and bowled more, but I guess Williamsons captaincy played a part in the decision. You cant argue that hes been the best captain, and the way he carried himself at the end and in post match interviews does him great credit. Virat Kholi could learn a lot form him, including how t win semi finals. 

It’s tough, do you look at individual brilliance or do you look at drove their teams into the later stages?

I don’t like seeing 3 number threes in these teams mainly on the basis of their averages. I feel you have to pick 2 and then someone else at 5 who can accelerate. Or more likely Stokes at 5 and a proper lower order hitter, of which Imad was the strongest for me.

If you have Roy, Sharma, Williamson and Shakib you probably don’t need Root to nudge a few more around in the last 15.

I agree Root is probably the weakest pick in there, but who deserves the place more? Warner and Babar both scored more slowly than Root which kind of negates the argument hes too slow. 

Stokes obviously gets in for that deflection alone.

Roy
Rohit
Williamson
Shakib
Stokes
Carey

You then need to pick a 6/7 more on strike rate than average. Buttler for his century and 50 under the pump against Pakistan and in the final? Imad for his combined strike rate and average? Pandya? Maxwell? Neither fired with the bat and with Shakib and Stokes in the top 5 we done need their bowling.

You need to pick the best lower order hitter, even if none of them have been particularly consistent like the middle order batsmen. Otherwise you can’t really shape it as a team, just a bunch of players who played well.

Roots strike rate and runs total was fine for a number 3 batting through. Not for someone to accelerate in the latter stages. I wouldn’t have Babar or Warner in there either.

robbo277 wrote:Roy
Rohit
Williamson
Shakib
Stokes
Carey

You then need to pick a 6/7 more on strike rate than average. Buttler for his century and 50 under the pump against Pakistan and in the final? Imad for his combined strike rate and average? Pandya? Maxwell? Neither fired with the bat and with Shakib and Stokes in the top 5 we done need their bowling.

You need to pick the best lower order hitter, even if none of them have been particularly consistent like the middle order batsmen. Otherwise you can’t really shape it as a team, just a bunch of players who played well.

Roots strike rate and runs total was fine for a number 3 batting through. Not for someone to accelerate in the latter stages. I wouldn’t have Babar or Warner in there either.

I think you just invalidated everything by including Maxwells name in a post about team of the tournament. 


If you really insist that you need a finisher in there Hasan Ali is your man, scored his runs at 179 . Jadeja averaged 77 at 130 and bowled well but didnt play enough to be considered. Plunkett averaged 62 at 151, but didnt bat much and his bowling was just good not great. If Buttlers in for his performance in the final and SR (averaged 35 at 124) then surely Carey goes for Warner who scored way more runs.

It was more talking about that type of player. Who was the best at coming in at 6 and 7 and consistently smashing some runs. Maxwell is one you’d think of as a contender pre tournament but didn’t fire. Pandya too didn’t hit the scores you’d want, although he offered something extra with his bowling.

I think with that 3 and 4 batting deep you’d need players who score a 30-ball 50 when required but also with enough technique to steady the ship if he has to come in earlier. Jadeja’s one innings while impressive probably isn’t sufficient. Could Hasan Ali play at 6? Not so sure.

I lean towards Buttler because of his role in the final. At 6 with Carey at 7. Before the final I had Imad at 7 with Carey promoted.

Just the 5 Indian's in Sachin Tendulkar's team of the tournament. Google it if you want a good laugh

They were the most consistent side VTR

Back to Buttler he did OK but I dont feel, final aside, he did enough through the torurnament to justify a place ahead of the likes of Warner Kholi and Root.
Type or not a team of the tournament has to include those who made the biggest contributions and match winning performances.
Theres no proper front line spinner in there either. As with low order hitters they just didnt really step up to the mark in the world cup. Lots of big name leggies who had been taking wickets for fun over the past 4 years were pretty quiet. Shakib is in for his batting, his bowling was just adequate.
Sides won without players hitting 10 ball 30s in the last two overs. I CBA to check the stats but I can think of a century scored at much over 105, and mostly those centurion got out quickly when they stepped up the striking in the last 10 overs.
It just wasnt a power hitters tournament ( Gayle), and trying to force one into a side of the tournament doesnt sit well to me.
Batsmen who could handle the ball seeming and swinging and not get done by slower deliveries were far more valuable than those who swung hard and prayed it behaved.

Gooseberry wrote:Back to Buttler he did OK but I dont feel, final aside, he did enough through the torurnament to justify a place ahead of the likes of Warner Kholi and Root.
Type or not a team of the tournament has to include those who made the biggest contributions and match winning performances.
Theres no proper front line spinner in there either. As with low order hitters they just didnt really step up to the mark in the world cup. Lots of big name leggies who had been taking wickets for fun over the past 4 years were pretty quiet. Shakib is in for his batting, his bowling was just adequate.
Sides won without players hitting 10 ball 30s in the last two overs. I CBA to check the stats but I can think of a century scored at much over 105, and mostly those centurion got out quickly when they stepped up the striking in the last 10 overs.
It just wasnt a power hitters tournament ( Gayle), and trying to force one into a side of the tournament  doesnt sit well to me.
Batsmen who could handle the ball seeming and swinging and not get done by slower deliveries were far more valuable than those who swung hard and prayed it behaved.

See I understand where you're coming from, but for me that would be like picking a football team of the week and picking a centre back at left back because you have 3 centre backs you want to pick and no left back really stood out.

Just a difference of opinion and I guess something that's going to mean we have different teams.

I get your point about the spinners as well - but if you look at what spinners took wickets and how many, Shakib wasn't too far behind Tahir, with the same number of wickets at an average of 2 more. It's just that it really was a pace bowlers tournament.

Looking at innings with the highest strike rate, Ali's 31 in 9 and Morgan's 148 in 71 against Afghanistan are notable. Maxwell actually features a number of times near the top - 32 in 10, 28 in 14, 46* in 25, but I guess never that really punishing innings.

The quickest ton other than Morgan was Buttler against Pakistan at 135. Scores between 50 and 100 at a better rate than that include Hetmyer, Sohail, Coulter-Nile, Carey, Gayle, Stokes, Buttler, Perera, Guptill, Mammadullah, Das. So maybe Buttler is my guy with a fast ton, a faster 50 and a very good knock in the final.

robbo277 wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:Back to Buttler he did OK but I dont feel, final aside, he did enough through the torurnament to justify a place ahead of the likes of Warner Kholi and Root.
Type or not a team of the tournament has to include those who made the biggest contributions and match winning performances.
Theres no proper front line spinner in there either. As with low order hitters they just didnt really step up to the mark in the world cup. Lots of big name leggies who had been taking wickets for fun over the past 4 years were pretty quiet. Shakib is in for his batting, his bowling was just adequate.
Sides won without players hitting 10 ball 30s in the last two overs. I CBA to check the stats but I can think of a century scored at much over 105, and mostly those centurion got out quickly when they stepped up the striking in the last 10 overs.
It just wasnt a power hitters tournament ( Gayle), and trying to force one into a side of the tournament  doesnt sit well to me.
Batsmen who could handle the ball seeming and swinging and not get done by slower deliveries were far more valuable than those who swung hard and prayed it behaved.

See I understand where you're coming from, but for me that would be like picking a football team of the week and picking a centre back at left back because you have 3 centre backs you want to pick and no left back really stood out.

Just a difference of opinion and I guess something that's going to mean we have different teams.

I get your point about the spinners as well - but if you look at what spinners took wickets and how many, Shakib wasn't too far behind Tahir, with the same number of wickets at an average of 2 more. It's just that it really was a pace bowlers tournament.

Looking at innings with the highest strike rate, Ali's 31 in 9 and Morgan's 148 in 71 against Afghanistan are notable. Maxwell actually features a number of times near the top - 32 in 10, 28 in 14, 46* in 25, but I guess never that really punishing innings.

The quickest ton other than Morgan was Buttler against Pakistan at 135. Scores between 50 and 100 at a better rate than that include Hetmyer, Sohail, Coulter-Nile, Carey, Gayle, Stokes, Buttler, Perera, Guptill, Mammadullah, Das. So maybe Buttler is my guy with a fast ton, a faster 50 and a very good knock in the final.

As certain shrewd punters will tell you, Maxwell had comfortably the highest strike rate in the tournament (minimum 100 runs) - which was available at very generous odds of 14/1 beforehand!