Whenever one ventures to pick up a XI from a World Cup, there is bound to be debate. My team, though, is based on World Cup performances and team balance, and if it causes a debate, so be it.
The team is mainly made up from the two teams who contested the final, but there were other outstanding performances that have been taken into account.
I have included many New Zealanders as the team played with great confidence at the tournament.
Players knew their roles, and they were given the licence and the responsibility to do what they thought was right in any given situation.
Over the last 12 months the team have progressed from No.9 in the rankings to No.4 after winning 14 of their last 16 games.
As coach Mike Hesson said: “You can only do that if you have good players. We have a lot of them. Players have self-belief, and they are selfless. There have been many great performances and some cameos. That is what makes this team what they are.”
The impact of Steve Smith in the Australian batting line-up and in the tournament was terrific.
A key player for the Aussies, he went on to make five scores of over 50 in his last five innings at the World Cup, including one in the final.
In his last 12 innings he has scored nearly 900 runs at an average of 82 with a strike rate of 96. His unorthodox batsmanship — he moves around the crease scoring many runs on the leg side and through the covers — has been unstoppable.
Martin Guptill batted with confidence to emerge the leading run-scorer of the tournament. He now has an all-time Word Cup batting average of 60, which is the sixth highest. In this tournament he scored 547 runs, just pipping Kumar Sangakkara who made 541. His 237 not out is the highest score in World Cups.
‘Player of the Tournament’ Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult have been the outstanding bowlers. Both captured 22 wickets, with Starc having the better bowling average at about 10 runs per wicket — an outstanding achievement in what was a batting competition.
Boult has now claimed the most wickets by a New Zealander in World Cup history by beating former left arm pace bowler Geoff Allott’s 20 wickets in 1999. A year ago he was not even on the radar for World Cup selection.
He was seen to be more of a Test bowler with the red ball but has adapted to the white ball magnificently, which is a huge plus for New Zealand cricket.
Brendon McCullum has been outstanding as captain with his attacking batting and aggressive field placings, flair and attitude.
Along with the Australians and the New Zealanders, I have picked Kumar Sangakkara, AB de Villiers, Morne Morkel and Imran Tahir. For Morkel it was a close fight with Wahab Riaz, and that spot could have gone either way.
My World Cup XI: Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (captain), Kumar Sangakkara (wicketkeeper), Steve Smith, A.B. de Villiers, Grant Elliott, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Vettori, Mitchell Starc, Morne Morkel, Trent Boult and Imran Tahir. — Hawkeye / Chivach Sports