Some players are just born for the shadows; to assist the main man; to play second fiddle. Life is such, the world is such. We need people who are like Gods in that role, for without them, the main person wouldn’t be the star.
This World Cup was no different. As the likes of Joe Root and Virat Kohli starred for their teams, and were made the face of plaudits for their exceptional performance, there were some whose performances got shadowed because of them. For every big shot corporate, a doctor, an architect et al, there are the food sellers, the sweepers and the construction workers—the pairs can’t exist without each other. Sadly, however, the world always lauds the people in suits, but rarely do we hear the name of the tailor who stitched it.
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And this is an article dedicated to the ‘tailors’: the five underrated folks of the World T20 2016 whose performances don't fade away just like the Axe Signature line of body perfumes.
David Willey
If one is asked about who was the best player for England in this tournament, most will unanimously say Joe Root, while some others will go down the hipster road and name Jason Roy or Jos Buttler. However, it will be surprising if David Willey’s name is mentioned even once; even though it should be.
If anyone in the England team could be dubbed as the ideal T20 bowler, because of physique, athleticism and skill, it is David Willey. In the tournament, he made an exceptional impact—especially in the final— for which England fans should be thankful.
He ended up as England highest wicket-taker with 10 wickets. Not only that, he was very handy with the bat when the necessity arose. However, his performances went largely unnoticed thanks to the batting frenzy environment of the game.
Martin Guptill
This might be a strange pick, but when Kane Williamson is praised more than him despite Guptill being the highest run getter for New Zealand in the tournament, it all makes sense.
Martin Guptill has, for some unknown reason, been the underrated one in world cricket. Despite having a double hundred to his name in ODIs, he isn’t talked of like the others in his league (Sachin, Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle and so on). It seems as though he has some curse of being in the shadows forever: first of Brendon McCullum and now of Kane Williamson.
In the four games that he got to play in the tournament, he scored a 140 runs at an average of 35 and a strike-rate of a mammoth 157.30. Sadly, however, his exploits aren’t as celebrated as it should have been.
Andre Russell
Chris Gayle might be the star of the Caribbean, but in terms smacking the ball with venom, Andre Russell is just as strong if not stronger. However, in terms of being rated, Russell way behind his West Indian team-mates.
His best game of the tournament came against India, where he came down and smashed the final blow when he scored a 20-ball 43 to give West Indies the enhancement that was required to overcome the required-run-rate obstacle.
He can stay calm and hit huge sixes in situations of utmost pressure, which is what makes him such a special player. It could safely be said that he was the most effective all-rounder in the tournament, taking 9 wickets while also scoring 91 runs. He might not have scored many runs overall, but his individual contributions played a significant role in his team’s fortunes.
Samuel Badree
Some say that Sunil Narine is overrated. This is a claim which is debatable. However, what is not debatable is how underrated Samuel Badree is. Despite being consistently amazing with the ball for Windies, the praise for him isn’t spoken of with as much fervor as it should be.
In the tournament, he ended up as West Indies’ highest wicket-taker with 9 wickets. However, his most astounding stats were his average of 13.77 and an economy rate of just 5.39. After the conclusion of the tournament, people are talking about Gayle’s century, Lendl Simmons’ desecration of India and Braathwaite’s four sixes, but it would be really unexpected people lauding the Dark Knight of the West Indies cricket team: Samuel Badree.
Jos Buttler
Jason Roy gave England furious starts. Thanks to him, England had a lot of runs on board before the powerplay ended and it was on this strong foundation on which Joe Root built his best performances. Joe Root’s perseveration in batting became the architect of almost every batting innings England played. However, the icing on the cake was always provided by Jos Buttler.
Buttler did in this World Cup what Kieswetter showed us in the 2010 edition. A wicket-keeper-batsman by trait, he only batted in one way: the way he knows, and that is to smack the ball all over the park. He scored 191 runs in the tournament—second most among England players and third highest in the main tournament. However, Jason Roy and Joe Root were the ones who stole majority of the hearts.
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