T20 World Cup 2021: Team-wise one player who disappointed the most

The ICC T20 World Cup (WC) 2021 has finally come to an end. It was an entertaining tournament, to say the least. Australia won the final after beating New Zealand by eight wickets in Dubai. The seventh edition of the T20 WC well and truly lived up to its expectations.

We saw several contests between the bat and ball, which turned out to be closer than expected. Several players were at their best. Many individuals who had a lot of hopes lived up to their hype.

However, the same can’t be said about all. There were a few top-class players who underperformed in this edition of the T20 WC. The below-mentioned players couldn’t quite live up to the expectations.

In the article, we shall be taking a look at team-wise one player who disappointed the most

1) Australia: Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc is unarguably one of the best players of this era. You wouldn’t find too many bowlers as good as him. As a matter of fact, several cricket pundits term him as the best white-ball bowler in the world.

Despite all the accolades, the pacer was far from his best in this tournament. He struggled for form. It is safe to say that he was one of Australia’s weakest links.

The seamer picked just the 9 wickets in the 7 games. His bowling average was 27.55. Moreover, his economy rate was on the higher side as well (9.18).

As a matter of fact, he leaked runs in the final as well. Kane Williamson took him to the cleaners in the most crucial game of the WC. He went for as many as 60 runs in his 4 overs.

2) New Zealand: Devon Conway

Devon Conway was one of the most hyped players going into the T20 WC. Despite making his debut recently in 2020, he took the world by storm. With the way he was playing, people expected him to be one of the best batters of the tournament.

On top of that, he was batting at 4, which is a crucial position. He was expected to take on the spinners. After scoring 27 in his first game against Pakistan, he failed against weaker sides such as Namibia and Scotland.

The aggressive batter then scored of 46 off 38 deliveries in the semi-final against England. While it wasn’t a bad knock, it could have been a bit more quicker. Despite not really being poor, he didn’t live up to his expectations.

3) Pakistan: Hasan Ali

Hasan Ali had a disappointing tournament. It was safety one of his worst performances. Despite entering the T20 WC with good form, he struggled in almost all the matches in which he played.

He leaked a lot of runs throughout the WC. So much so that several commentators called him the ‘weak ink’ on air. The pacer just picked 5 wickets in the seventh edition of the T20 WC.

However, his worst performance was in the all important semi-final against Australia. Not only did he leak runs, but he also dropped a crucial catch of Matthew Wade. That drop catch turned out to be very costly as Matthew Wade went on to win the match for the Aussies.

4) England: Jonny Bairstow

Jonny Bairstow is one of the cleanest strikes of the ball. He was in red hot form as well. However, in a shocking turn of events, he was struggling to time the ball this time around.

As the wicketkeeper batsman is one of the better players of spin, he was expected to take them on. However, he managed to score just the 38 runs in 6 games. His highest score was an unbeaten 16.

Spinners like Hasaranga and Shamsi exposed him completely. Despite getting a chance to open the innings against NZ in the semi-final, he wasted the opportunity and was able to score just the 13 runs off 17 balls.

5) South Africa: Quinton de Kock

Quinton de Kock had a tournament to forget. A lot of hopes were there from him to come good in the marquee event. However, he failed to implement his abilities this time around.

The Proteas wicketkeeper batsman scored 69 runs in four games, averaging 17.25, which is poor for a player of his stature. His poor foot movement was pretty evident. Moreover, he struggled to convert his starts into the big scores.

The off-field controversies didn’t help his cause either. Besides, his keeping was mediocre as well. Despite the Proteas wining 4 out of their 5 games, their key player failed to make a mark.

6) India: Hardik Pandya

India entered the tournament with the ‘favorites’ tag. However, they got knocked out in the Super 12 itself. One of the major reasons for their early exit was the poor form of their star all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

He was far from impressive. The sad part is that despite not being fully fit, he decided to participate in the tournament. While he struggled to time the ball, it seemed as if his mindset wasn’t clear.

To make matters worse, he hardly bowled in this T20 WC. One of the major reasons being his fitness issues. The all-rounder was able to score just the 69 runs in 3 innings.

7) Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera

Kusal Perera has been one of the better Sri Lankan batters in the recent past. Irrespective of Sri Lanka’s performances of late, he has always been amongst the runs. Besides, he is a veteran in the shortest format of the game.

However, contrary to what we have been seeing in the recent past, while his team performed reasonably well in the World Cup, he didn’t. The opener didn’t look in good nick.

The wicketkeeper batsman failed to convert his starts. He kept on throwing his wicket without a sense of responsibility. His highest score in the tournament was 35 which came against Australia.

8) Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad

Mohammad Shahzad is an Afghan legend. Moreover, his strongest format has to be T20Is. He loves taking on the opposition bowling and prefers scoring through big shots.

Moreover, in terms of statistics, he happens to be one of the greatest T20 players for Afghanistan. Yet, he struggled throughout the tournament. It seemed as if he was trying to blindly slogging every delivery.

His lack of responsibility acted as a hindrance towards Afghanistan’s chances of reaching the semi-final. Barring the game against Namibia where he scored 45, he failed in the rest of the games. In a quest to score quick runs, he kept on playing irresponsible shots.

9) West Indies: Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle is one of the most celebrated cricketers of all time. His charismatic performance have entertained his fans for two decades. There’s a reason why he is called the ‘Universe Boss’.

However, the legend struggled in this T20 World Cup. He failed in every game he played. The former Windies captain scored just the 45 runs in the tournament.

One of the major reasons for this being the lack of role clarity with respect to him. Gayle’s batting position was changed time and again. However, having said that, he failed in his preferred position as well, which is at the top of the order.

10) Bangladesh: Mahmudullah

Mahmudullah has been a Bangladeshi legend. He has been with the side since 2007. Thus, one would expect the Mymensingh-born to step up during the crunch times.

However, he disappointed his fans this time around. Barring a fifty against PNG, his returns in this tournament were poor. It all started after his team lost to Scotland in the first game.

Even after Bangladesh reached the Super 12, he was still struggling to get into double digits. His captaincy was below average as well. Neither did he lead from the front nor did he take make any extraordinary calls as a leader.

11) Scotland: Matthew Cross

Scotland are a team to watch out for. They showed glimpses of their potential in the first round of the tournament. While they lost all their games in the Super 12s, they looked good against the Kiwis.

For associate nations, it is very important for the senior players to step up whenever they play against the bigger sides. However, their keeper Matt Cross had a woeful tournament. He was one of their weakest links.

Despite performing well in the first round, he struggled when it mattered the most. It all started with an absolute snooze-worthy innings where he took 33 balls to score 19 against Namibia. This was followed by a string of low scores against the tougher teams.

12) Namibia: Bernard Scholtz

When it comes to associate nations, Namibia punched above their weights in the World Cup. Their performance in this tournament was impressive. They even managed to win a game in the second round of the tournament.

However, one of the disappointments for them would certainly be Bernard Scholtz. The spinner hardly made his presence felt. Neither was he economical nor was he amongst the wickets.

The Namibian bowler didn’t even complete his full quota of 4 overs. As a specialist, one would expected him to do so. Besides, he failed to deliver in the the bowling-friendly conditions in the UAE.

13) Ireland: Kevin O’Brien

Ireland have always punched above their weights. Who can ever forget that century by Kevin O’Brien in the 2011 ODI WC? He has been one of the loyal servants of Irish cricket.

It is safe to say that he has been one of their greatest players of all time. The all-rounder has some superb numbers in the shortest format of the game as well. However, for some reason, he wasn’t able to replicate his past performances in this tournament.

The Irish all-rounder scored just the 39 runs in 3 innings. Irish fans would have certainly expected more from him. Ireland thus, failed to make it to the second round of the tournament.

14) Netherlands: Roelof van der Merwe

Netherlands had a tournament to forget. They lost all their games in the first round of the tournament and thus, failed to proceed to the next stage of the ICC T20 WC 2021. Several of their seasoned performers struggled.

However, one of the most disappointing players for them has to be van der Merwe. The Dutch was far from his best. Despite all his experience, he failed with both the ball as well as the bat.

He scored 2 ducks in 3 games during the World Cup. He had a grand total of just 6 runs in 3 games. He went for more than 10 runs an over in both the games where he bowled as well.

15) Oman: Mohammad Nadeem

Oman, led by Zeeshan Maqsood, failed to make it to the Super 12 of the World Cup. However, several of their players managed to impress one and all. They looked good in patches.

Despite this, they did have a few underperformers from their side. One of them, being Mohammad Nadeem. He failed to make much of an impact in the tournament.

The seamer was woefully bad in all the three games of the first round as he went wicketless in all the three games. Besides, his economy rate wasn’t impressive either.

16) Papua New Guinea: Tony Ura

Papua New Guinea failed to make a mark in the World Cup. They lost all their games in the tournament. Thus, by a virtue of which, not many of their players performer to their expectations.

However, if one had to pick their worst performer it would have to be Tony Ura. The keeper failed in both the games in which he played. He scored just 2 runs in both the games combined.

He was then dropped for their final game against Bangladesh. As an opener, one would have expected him to give his team at least one decent start. PNG, later on, had to return home without winning a single game.