We start by looking at the previous winners of this coveted individual award from the World Cups in 🦄both formats and observe any common trends.
ODI World Cups
- 2019 – Kane Williamson (finalist)
- 2015 – Mitchell Starc (winner)
- 2011 – Yuvraj Singh (winner)
T20 World Cups
- 2022 – Sam Curran (winner)
- 2021 – David Warner (winner)
- 2016 – Virat Kohli (semi-finalist)
So apart from Virat Kohli in 2016 and Kane Williamson in 2019, the awards have gone to the best (or most impactful) performers of the title-winning teams. There are 2 all-rounders, 3 top-order batters and a strike bowler. So the counting stats (that is, the number of runs or wickets) definitely play a part in how the judges decܫide the eventual winner of the award.
Even though Shakib had a splendid all-round run in the 2019 edition, he did not win the award possibly because his team failed to make it to the top 4. So if Bas de Leede drops an all-timer campaign, and maybe even wins a game𒀰 or two for the Dutch, it is still highly unlikely he would go on to win it. Impactful knockout performances also definitely have a major influence on the jury.
On that note, we explore the top contenders for the award 🐷for each catego🉐ry.
Batters (3) – Devon Conway, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma
Devon Conway is currently the 3rd highest run-getter after the first week of the tournament, with 184 runs from 2 innings. The left-handed New Zealand opener has scored 633 runs in 12 innings this year in ODIs at an average of 63 and a strike rate of 101. He has experience of batting in Indian conditions because of the IPL, and he is a very good player of spin bowling despite being born in South Africa. He has the ability to pla𒁏y those long innings and is the main man for the Kiwis with Kane Williamson not quite at his best fitness.
Virat Kohli has already won the Player of the Tournament award in T20 World Cups twice and is definitely the face of the sport. Although he has not quite set the stage on fire in 50-over World Cups, he has started quite well – 140 runs in 2 innings which includes an ice-cold 85 against Australia and an unbeaten 55 against Afghanistan in a regulation chase. If he has a 2019 Williamson-esque tournament if he plays a few more knocks where he rescues the team from precarious scenarios, it will definitely help his case a lot more.
Rohit Sharma was the top run-getter of the 2019 World Cup, where he scored 648 runs including five centuries. He started the World Cup﷽ with a duck against Australia but followed it up with a terrific 131 off 84 deliveries🧔 against Afghanistan in the run-chase. Expect him to be one of the contenders if he continues to deliver impactful, game-changing knocks at the top.
All-rounders (2) – Rachin Ravindra, Hardik Pandya
Rachin Ravindra is not quite a frontline all-rounder at the moment. But the 23-year-old youngster has impressed everyone with the bat in these 2 matches, scoring 174 runs including a hundred on his World Cup debut. He has been considerably high-usage with the ball considering his skills at t꧑he moment, bowling his full quota twice. If he ends up with a tournament where he scores around 500 runs in the top order and picks up a bunch of wickets with New Zealand making the finals, he might have a great case.
Hardik Pandya is arguably the best pace-bowling all-rounder in the competition, with Ben Stokes not bowling anymore. His power-hitting ability combined with his skills to bowl with the new ball and pick wickets in the middle overs. He hasn’t batted much yet and picked up 3 wickets in 10 overs at an economy of 6.1 from 2 games. He has often proved himself in high-pressure games, so ke🐷ep an eye on the Gujarat Titans skipper.
Bowlers (3) – Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, Jasprit Bumrah
Kuldeep Yaꦦdav is definitely the most in-form spinner in the world at the moment. The left-arm wrist-spinner has picked up 3 wickets in 2 matches at an economy rate of 4.10. He has 36 wickets in 19 games at 16.97 runs apiece in 2💖023. He will influence games in the middle-overs where has the wicket-taking ability to make a difference.
Mitchell Starc is already one of the best wicket-takers in World Cup history and is on our list of the best cricket players. The left-arm seamer has shown time and again that he has the ability to influence games by taking early wickets and♕ pushing opponent sides on the backfoot. He bowled a terrific opening spell against India where he also took the wicket of Ishan Kishan.
Jasprit Bumrah has a solid case for being the best white𒁃-ball bowler since his debut. He was also brilliant in the🍨 2019 edition, picking up 18 wickets from 9 matches at an economy of under 5. He has started extremely well this time around, picking up 6 wickets from 2 matches. He is incredibly valuable in all phases of the game.
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