Cricket World Cup 2023 Review and Awards

Two weeks after another heartbreak for all Indian fans and another triumph for all Australian fans, it is time to reflect on the Cricket World Cup.

Afghanistan

9 games, 4 wins, 5 losses, and 8 points.

Top scorer — Ibrahim Zadran (376 runs)

Top wicket-taker — Rashid Khan (11 wickets)

An incredible turnaround from the 2019 World Cup where Afghanistan couldn't win a game. Instead, they acted as a Robin Hood team in this World Cup, beating England, Pakistan, Netherlands, and Sri Lanka. They also took South Africa and Australia down to the wire and would have won against the champions if it wasn't for Maxwell batting out of his skin. It was a proper team effort from Afghanistan, with no one player stealing the show every game, but instead, they all chipped in, playing sensible cricket. Jonathan Trott and his men should hold their heads high and be proud of this performance, as they have shown their capabilities on the world stage that have been quietly rumbling in the background for the past 4 years.

Player of the tournament — Azmatullah Omarzai (353 runs, 70.60 avg, 97* HS, 38 overs, 7 wickets, 7.11 E/R)

Rating — 7/10

Australia

11 matches, 9 wins, 2 losses, 14 points.

Top scorer — David Warner (535 runs)

Top wicket-taker — Adam Zampa (23 wickets)

Australia got off to the worst possible start, losing to India (despite having them 2–3) and following that up with a battering at the hands of South Africa, losing by 134 runs. However, against Sri Lanka, something clicked as they played the ultimate team performance, registering their first win. They followed this by winning their next 6 group-stage games, cruising to the semi-finals against South Africa, the last team to beat them. It took Mitchell Starc and captain Cummins at 7 and 8 respectively to beat South Africa in a close encounter, but nevertheless, they had booked themselves in an 8th World Cup final. Apart from both powerplays, Australia dominated the final and lifted their 6th World Cup. After a bleak start, Australia’s run of 9 wins from 9 games will go down in history as one of the great World Cup turnarounds.

Player of the tournament — Glenn Maxwell (400 runs, 201* HS, 66.66 avg, 6 wickets [Bavuma, de Kock, Asalanka, Glenn Phillips, Rahmat Shah, and Rohit Sharma], 4.82 E/R)

Rating — 10/10

Bangladesh

9 matches, 2 wins, 7 losses, and 4 points.

Top scorer — Mahmudullah (328 runs)

Top wicket-taker — Mehidy Hasan Miraz/Shoriful Islam (10 wickets)

Bangladesh came into the World Cup shrouded in controversy as Tamim Iqbal, their best-ever ODI batter, was left out of the squad due to injury concerns. Iqbal said he was fit for the World Cup, and blamed the BCB for creating ‘barriers’ to prevent his return. Shakib then hit back, calling Iqbal, ‘childish’ and saying he's ‘not a team man’—the irony.

Despite all the outside noise, they started the tournament well, beating the dark horses, in Afghanistan. However, they followed this up with 6 straight losses, including losing Shakib for 2 games. The tournament had flipped immediately for Bangladesh and they found themselves towards the bottom of the table. Bangladesh could only manage a win against rivals Sri Lanka, before reverting to their losing ways against Australia.

Player of the tournament — Mahmudullah (328 runs, 54.66 avg, 111 HS, 28/14 4s/6s)

Rating — 2/10

England

9 matches, 3 wins, 6 losses, and 6 points.

Top scorer — Dawid Malan (404 runs)

Top wicket-taker — Adil Rashid (15 wickets)

The fact that the picture above was taken after a win, tells the entire story of England’s campaign. Their recent form in India hadn’t been great, and most of their players had had an underwhelming IPL earlier in the year. However, I don’t think anyone saw England finishing in the bottom half of the table. England spent most of the tournament dead last after a 5-game-losing streak, and despite a show of heart towards the end of the tournament, they could only climb to 7th place, above Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands.

Player of the tournament — Dawid Malan (404 runs, 44.88 avg, 140 HS, 101 S/R, 50/9 4s/6s)

Rating — 1/10

India

11 matches, 10 wins, 1 loss, and 18 points.

Top scorer — Virat Kohli (765 runs)

Top wicket-taker — Mohammed Shami (24 wickets)

Most wins, top scorer, and top wicket-taker of the tournament. Despite all of these incredible feats, this World Cup will only be remembered for one thing, another loss in an ICC knockout game. India played practically perfect cricket for over a month before it all went out the window on the most important stage of all. Luckily, India only has to wait 2 World Cups before the competition returns to India in 2031. However, their chances of winning without the irreplaceable Shami, Rohit, Kohli, Rahul, and Jadeja, look very slim at the moment.

Player of the tournament — Virat Kohli (765 runs, 95.63 avg, 117 HS, 6/3 50s/100s, 68/9 4s/6s, 1 wicket)

Rating — 9/10

Netherlands

9 games, 2 wins, 7 losses, and 4 points.

Top scorer — Sybrand Engelbrecht (300 runs)

Top wicket-takers — Bas de Leede (16 wickets)

The Netherlands most likely came into the tournament intending to win just one game, something that Afghanistan was unable to do in 2019. However, not only did they win 2 games, but they also beat South Africa, who at the time were top of the table. They also beat Bangladesh and took Sri Lanka down to the wire. For a team of players that have most likely never played cricket in India before, they impressed and exceeded expectations with flying colours. They are now in a position similar to Afghanistan just under a decade ago, where they can become a competitive team and challenge some of the bigger teams, with an eye on a Full ICC Membership in the future.

Player of the tournament — Bas de Leede (140 runs, 67 HS, 16 wickets, 4/62 BBI, 30 avg)

Rating — 4/10

New Zealand

10 matches, 5 wins, 5 losses, and 10 points.

Top scorer — Rachin Ravindra (578 runs)

Top wicket-taker — Mitchell Santner (16 wickets)

New Zealand did much better than their fellow 2019 finalists, but the World Cup still eludes them due to a masterclass from Kohli in the semi-finals. New Zealand could have been more dominant in the group stages, losing their way in the middle, and losing to India, Australia, South Africa, and Pakistan in consecutive matches. Despite these losses to the top half of the table, they just snuck into the semis due to Pakistan’s loss to England. However, their inability to beat any of the big teams came back to bite them as they were ripped apart by Shami, Kohli, and co. in the semi-final. New Zealand will be happy to have uncovered an exceptional talent in Rachin Ravindra who will undoubtedly be set for life after this year's IPL auction. The return of Kane Williamson’s form will be encouraging, heading into another T20 World Cup, as well as Daryl Mitchell showing why he may be New Zealand’s best ICC tournament player, as he scored his 869th run in just 20 T20/ODI World Cup innings.

Player of the tournament — Rachin Ravindra (578 runs, 64.22 avg, 123* HS, 2/3 50s/100s, 106.44 S/R, 5 wickets, 5.98 E/R)

Rating — 5/10

Pakistan

9 matches, 4 wins, 5 losses, and 8 points.

Top scorer — Mohammad Rizwan (395 runs)

Top wicket-taker — Shaheen Shah Afridi (18 wickets)

Pakistan had a very disappointing tournament, with only one win showing their team's overall class (chasing 344 against Sri Lanka). They got a rather lucky DLS win against New Zealand and lost to 3/5 teams that finished below them. Their matchup against India was extremely underwhelming, only managing 191 runs and 3 wickets. Overall, Pakistan relied heavily on Babar and Rizwan to carry the batting whilst their bowling lacked a frontline spinner. Out of all their batters who batted in at least 6/9 of their innings, only one of them had a strike rate over 100 (Iftikhar Ahmed — 115.44), and he only scored 142 runs. In the bowling, 12/65 of their wickets came from spinners, that's 11 less than Adam Zampa took… Pakistan has clear problems and they were never true contenders for the title, even if Babar, Rizwan, and Shaheen played out of their skin.

Player of the tournament — Shaheen Shah Afridi (18 wickets, 26.72 avg, 5/54 BBI, 5.93 E/R, 55 runs)

Rating — 4/10

South Africa

10 matches, 7 wins, 3 losses, and 4 points.

Top scorer — Quinton de Kock (594 runs)

Top wicket-taker — Gerald Coetzee (20 wickets)

So close, yet so far. South Africa’s ICC trophy drought extends to 25 years, as they crashed out of the tournament in the semi-finals after a painstakingly close game against Australia. South Africa were almost perfect in their individual performances with only one name standing out. 59.40, 49.77, 45.11, 41.44, 44.50, and 31.40. These are the batting averages of South Africa’s top 7, except one name is missing. Temba Bavuma played 8 innings and averaged 18.12. That's less than their number 9, Keshav Maharaj, who averaged 19.66 and played an incredible knock against Pakistan. Reeza Hendricks opened the batting in 2 games, due to Bavuma’s injury, and he averaged 48.50. It raises the obvious question, would South Africa have made the final with Hendricks at the top? It’s impossible to know, Hendrick’s form may have dropped or the lack of Bavuma’s inevitable early wicket may have thwarted the scoring of the middle order, but nonetheless, it is obvious that the selectors may have to look at replacing him with Hendricks. However, Bavuma has had a great year in the format, outside of the World Cup, scoring 3 hundreds against Australia, West Indies, and England, as well as scoring more ODI runs than Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Shakib al Hasan, and Travis Head.

It is impossible to mention South Africa’s tournament without looking at their standout performers, Quinton de Kock and Gerald Coetzee. QDK announced his ODI retirement before the competition and followed this up with the 8th most amount of runs scored in a World Cup edition. Coetzee only played 8 of their 10 matches, yet managed to take 20 wickets, the most by a South African in a World Cup. His raw pace only strengthens South Africa’s ridiculous pace attack for the 2024 T20 World Cup (Rabada/Jansen/Nortje/Coetzee/Ngidi).

Player of the tournament — Quinton de Kock (594 runs, 59.40 avg, 174 HS, 4 100s, 57/21 4s/6s, 107.02 S/R, 20 dismissals [2nd most by a keeper in a World Cup])

Rating — 8/10

Sri Lanka

9 matches, 2 wins, 7 losses, and 4 points.

Top scorer — Sadeera Samarawickrama (373 runs)

Top wicket-taker — Dilshan Madushanka (21 wickets)

Many had predicted Sri Lanka as the dark horse of the competition due to their young, exciting bowling attack and the incredible form of Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, and Sadeera Samarawickrama in 2023. Sri Lanka lived up to none of these expectations, finishing 9th, only managing to beat the Netherlands and England. They only had one bowler take at least 10 wickets and they didn't have a batter in the top 15 run scorers. However, it is unfair to say the tournament was a complete failure. They had close games against New Zealand, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, as well as uncovering a superb talent in Madushanka. The biggest disappointment for Sri Lanka will be spinner Maheesh Theekshana who took 6 wickets in 8 matches at an average of 63.66.

Player of the tournament — Dilshan Madushanka (21 wickets, 25 avg, 5/80 BBI, 6.70 E/R)

Rating — 3/10

Awards

Before we get into the awards, here are my pre-tournament predictions…

Winner — India (Australia)
Most runs — Babar (Kohli
Most wickets — Boult (Shami)
Most sixes — Gill (Rohit)
Player of the tournament — Pandya (Kohli)
Underperformer of the tournament — Starc (Buttler)
Surprise player of the tournament — Ashwin (Rachin Ravindra/Madushanka)
Surprise team of the tournament — Sri Lanka (Afghanistan)
The underperformer team of the tournament — Pakistan (England)

Well then… 0/9.

To be fair to me, Babar was averaging 49.67 in ODIs before the World Cup, Boult had 25 wickets in his last 10 ODIs, and Gill had the 2nd most ODI sixes in 2023 coming into the World Cup (by a full-member nation batter). I think it’s fair to say Sri Lanka as the surprise team was a consensus decision alongside Afghanistan. The argument for Pakistan as an underperformer would be valid if England didn't finish 7th.

Emerging Player of the Tournament

Honourable Mentions:

• Gerald Coetzee
• Ibrahim Zadran
• Azmatullah Omarzai
• Bas de Leede

This was a toss-up between Madsuhanka and Rachin. Whilst Ravindra’s performance was much better than Madushanka’s, Rachin had played 15 more internationals than him coming into the World Cup. Despite this, it is impossible to look past 3 hundreds and 2 fifties, as well as some handy bowling.

Individual Performance of the Tournament

Honourable Mentions:

• Mohammed Shami — 9.5–0–57–7 vs New Zealand/5–1–18–5 vs Sri Lanka
• Travis Head — 137 (166) vs India in the final
• Marco Jansen — 75* (42) and 5–0–35–2 vs England

It is impossible to talk about this World Cup without mentioning Glenn Maxwell’s 201* (128), on one leg, 7 wickets down, chasing 292, including 21 fours and 10 sixes. The list goes on and on, but the only thing you need to know is that this is, and will most likely always be, the best white ball innings ever.

Best Match of the Tournament

Honourable Mentions:

• Afghanistan vs Australia — Australia won by 3 wickets (Maxwell 201*, Ibrahim Zadran 129*, and 584 runs overall)
• Pakistan vs South Africa — South Africa won by 1 wicket (Babar and Shakeel 50s, Shamsi 4/60, Markram 91, and Maharaj’s match-winning 7* (21) with 16 balls left)
• India vs New Zealand semi-final — India won by 70 runs (Kohli’s 50th 100 [117 (113)], Iyer 105 (70), Mitchell 134 (119), and Shami 9.5–0–57–7)

Australia vs New Zealand, the trans-Tasman battle, 99.2 overs of cricket that went down to the very last ball. It was Travis Head’s first game back from injury and he smashed 109 off just 67 balls. Warner also got a rapid 81 (67) and the inning was finished off by Maxwell’s 41 (24) and Cummins’ 37 (14). Australia managed to get 388, thanks to these mammoth efforts and New Zealand looked out of the game when they were 72–2 (considering Australia was 200–2), but Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, and Jimmy Neesham had other ideas, hitting 116 (89), 54 (51), and 58 (39) respectively. New Zealand needed 49 off the last 24, with Neesham as the only recognised batter left. Neesham, Henry, and Boult managed to get it down to 19 off the last over, but Boult was on strike. Australia didn't get the best start to the last 6 as Neesham got on strike and then Starc bowled 5 wides, leaving Neesham with 13 off 5 to pull off a heist. Neesham couldn't find the boundary but with 7 off 2 to win, they were still in with a chance. That was until Labuschange fired a rocket in from the boundary, running Neesham out with runs still needed to win. In the end, 771 runs were scored, 3 50s, 2 100s, and 19 wickets, but it was Australia who came out on top.