The ICC, after the completion of the Cricket World Cup, have announced the Team of the Tournament. Only two Indians find a place in the XI and it doesn't include the captain Virat Kohli. Opener Rohit Sharma, who scored five centuries in the tournament, and Jasprit Bumrah, whose primacy in the world of ODI bowling was once again proven, were part of the chosen group of players.
Virat had an uncharacteristically underwhelming time in the event. Coming into the World Cup with 41 ODI centuries, just eight short of Sachin Tendulkar's world record mark of 49, he failed to add any in the 10 matches that India played. There were some high-class fifties from Kohli but, surprisingly, he failed to convert any of them into three-figure scores.
Rohit, on the other hand, hit a purple patch during the last month-and-a-half and seemed unstoppable. He equalled Sachin's record of most World Cup hundreds – six – in less than half the matches that the master blaster took. He also raised the bar by scoring five centuries in one World Cup – an unprecedented achievement.
Bumrah came into this tournament as the best limited-overs bowler in the world. And he cemented his reputation even further by impeccable performances in almost all the matches. If it wasn't for him, India may well have suffered a humiliating loss against Afghanistan. In death overs, the Gujarat pacer demonstrated again and again that he is unmatched when it comes to keeping runs down in the final overs.
The winners of the tournament, England, had four players in the side – opener Jason Roy, all-rounder Ben Stokes, middle-order batsman Joe Root and their new pace sensation Jofra Archer. Runners-up New Zealand were represented by their captain Kane Williamson, who was also given the honour of being the skipper of this side, and speedster Lockie Ferguson. The latter proved to be a major force in the middle overs with his wicket-taking prowess.
The other losing semi-finalist Australia also had two of their players in the line-up – wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.
Only one player from a team that didn't play the semis qualified for the XI – Shakib Al-Hasan. The Bangladesh all-rounder had an incredible tournament were he scored over 600 runs and took 11 wickets.
Interestingly, there were no spinners in the XI apart from Shakib. The four frontline bowlers were all pacers and all capable of bowling at over 150/kph. This is a testament to the big role played by genuine speed in the tournament.
Team of the Tournament: Jason Roy, Rohit Sharma, Kane Williamson (C), Joe Root, Shakib Al-Hasan, Ben Stokes, Alex Carey (WK), Mitchell Starc, Jofra Archer, Lockie Ferguson, Jasprit Bumrah
