The 2023 edition of the World Cup saw many brilliant performances from established names like Virat Kohli, David Warner and others. But at the same time, there were also many disappointments when big names like Jos Buttler, Temba Bavuma and Babar Azam did not perform as expected. Here is the list of top five players who were expected to perform well but failed.
Josh Butler
Jos Buttler would defend the title won by Eoin Morgan in 2019. However, the defense’s start was flat as New Zealand defeated the defending champions by nine wickets. Buttler was seen looking for ideas as his bowling changes did not work. Although he scored 43 runs in this match, things went from bad to worse for the Lancashire man since then as he managed to score just 95 more runs at an average of less than 12 in the following innings.
Temba Bavuma
As captain, there was no doubt about Temba Bavuma’s ability to inspire his men, make the right bowling changes and create perfect field settings to trap the opposition batters. But where Bavuma failed was in his batting, and South Africa suffered a lot as a result. Not even a single fifty in eight innings and a duck’s failure in the all-important semi-final saw Bavuma abandon his team when it mattered most.
Babar Azam
It was the opposite with Babar Azam as he could still do things with the bat, but with captaincy, every change he made was disappointing. With 340 runs in nine innings at an average of 40, scores could still be scored in ODIs if the other batters performed alongside him. However, the others failed when he failed, and bowlers failed massively, making Babar look very bad as a captain and also as a player. He failed to shine in big matches, which was his biggest downfall.
Shakib Al-Hasan
Bangladesh should have been a big surprise package and a party pooper for big teams, if not a contender. They finished sixth in the World Cup Super League. However, the pre-tournament chaos surrounding team selection shifted the focus.
Yet Shakib Al Hasan, the all-rounder’s talisman who scored more than 500 points at the 2019 World Cup and also contributed excellently with the ball, had to lead them well. However, it was his failure that became the focal point of Bangladesh’s poor show. Shakib had a total of just one fifty and nine wickets in the seven matches he played. His injury also became a major concern for the team.
Highlight Wood
With just six wickets in seven matches, Mark Wood failed miserably in this World Cup. Being the strike bowler for England in the absence of Jofra Archer, he was supposed to lead the pack, but he became too heavy to even be carried in the pack. Wood’s economic rate was never going to be the problem because he gave runs but also took wickets. But this time it was his strike rate that was dismal to watch (54.6). In part, the failure of Wood and Buttler with bat and ball has contributed to the failure of the England team at this World Cup as a whole.