World Cup 2019: 7 players who were under-utilized in the tournament

After a fiercely competed final, England have been crowned as the World Cup champions for the first time in their history. But their win wasn't without its share of controversy.

People from all over the world have expressed their displeasure with boundary count being the winning margin. A boundary is a form of scoring, just like singles and doubles, and determining the winner based on that hasn't gone down well with the fans.

England's World Cup win wasn't without its share of controversy

Cricket experts also seem to reflect the view of fans, like the great Sachin Tendulkar - who suggested a second Super Over since the first one ended in a tie. A few were of the view that the number of wickets fallen could be considered as well, much like in Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

Despite all that though, England are seen as the deserving champions after dominating the ODI format in the last four years. They have been successful because of their ability to use the resources well; all of England's players were used appropriately in the tournament. That can't be said of all the teams.

On that note, let's look at seven underutilized players in the World Cup 2019.

#7 Haris Sohail - Pakistan

Sohail's composure helped Pakistan win games

Pakistan suffered a humiliating loss against West Indies in their opening encounter of the World Cup. In a bid to change their fortunes, Haris Sohail was dropped in place of Asif Ali. But the team slumped further as they suffered huge defeats against Australia and India.

When Pakistan were on the verge of elimination, Sohail was brought back into the side against South Africa. He played a blinder of an innings as his 59-ball 89 helped them secure a 49-run win.

Sohail's best knock came against New Zealand in a thrilling run chase. Chasing a modest total of 238 on a tough pitch, Pakistan were in a spot of bother with the score reading 110-3 in 25 overs. But Sohail and Babar Azam produced a match-winning partnership of 126 to keep Pakistan's hopes alive.

In both those innings, Sohail steadied the ship after a flurry of wickets in the middle. Pakistan's long-standing problem has been losing wickets in the middle overs; had Sohail been there in all the matches, his team might have got more points than they did.

#6 Kemar Roach - West Indies

Roach dismissed the in-form Rohit cheaply

West Indies were considered the dark horses for the tournament as their players were in good form heading into the World Cup. That was evident in the very first game as their bowlers bounced Pakistan out for a paltry total.

But they couldn't retain the momentum as they suffered multiple losses after that.

One of the primary reasons for their slide was that their most experienced fast bowler Kemar Roach was absent from the starting XI. Roach had a great start to 2019 as he bowled Windies to a 2-1 series win over England in the Tests. But he didn't find favor with the management for the ODIs; others were preferred ahead of him at the start of the World Cup, and they failed to deliver.

In the limited opportunities that he got, Roach was excellent with the new ball; his economy of 3.67 was the best in the tournament (minimum of 3 overs). He picked up crucial wickets in the matches against India and Afghanistan, which restricted the opposition.

Windies lacked that incisiveness in his absence as they conceded plenty of runs in the middle overs and hence lost to Bangladesh and Australia from winning positions.

#5 Avishka Fernando - Sri Lanka

Fernando is the find of the tournament

Everyone in Sri Lankan cricket was excited at the ease with which Avishka Fernando played fast bowling. The same reason prompted the selectors to fast-track him to international cricket straight from his school.

Fernando was expected to open the innings as he had scored a fluent 77 against Scotland before the World Cup. But he was not picked in the starting XI for the first five games.

He was brought in for the game against England, and was straight away put to a test as Sri Lanka were reeling at 3-2. Fernando counter-attacked the English fast-bowlers with a 39-ball 49. His play against the genuine pace of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood was particularly impressive.

Fernando's best knock came against West Indies as he produced a stroke-filled 104 which included nine fours and two sixes. He impressed everyone in the limited opportunities he got in this World Cup, which is why the ICC named him as the rising star of the squad.

#4 Dwaine Pretorius - South Africa

Pretorius helped in the late resurgence of SA

No one expected South Africa to play the way they did in this World Cup. Injuries to key players like Dale Steyn and Lungi Ngidi dented their chances, but it was the team selection that cost them more.

South Africa were caught in a dilemma whether to play four fast bowlers or replace two of them with bowling all-rounders. The lack of experience in the middle order forced the team management to add depth to the batting and hence the all-rounders were preferred.

Dwaine Pretorius played the first game against England and was dropped for the next one. He was brought back in the penultimate game against Sri Lanka and made an instant impact with a man-of-the-match performance of 3-25 in 10 overs.

Against Australia, he picked the crucial wickets of David Warner and Steve Smith to end South Africa's World Cup campaign with a win. Pretorius provided perfect support to Kagiso Rabada, which was lacking for the Proteas in their losses.

#3 Shaheen Afridi - Pakistan

Afridi used the slope at Lord's effectively

Many eyebrows were raised when Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz were left out of Pakistan's provisional squad for the World Cup. Shaheen Afridi was the only certainty as the others were either out of form or inexperienced. But when Pakistan played the first game, Hasan Ali was picked ahead of Afridi.

Ali proved to be an expensive choice as he could pick just two wickets in the four games that he played. Afridi was brought in for the game against Australia but was dropped in the subsequent game against India.

The southpaw was recalled in the next game and he proved to be the match-winner as he provided crucial breakthroughs.

His spell against New Zealand rattled the top-order to have them reeling at 46-4. He continued his form against Afghanistan and Bangladesh, as the 19-year-old snapped up 16 wickets in five games.

His selection changed the complexion of the team as his predecessor Ali was conceding runs at 7.76, which was the worst among bowlers who bowled a minimum of 20 overs.

#2 Mohammed Shami - India

Shami became the second Indian to take a WC hat-trick

India's search for the third seamer was solved after Mohammed Shami's impressive show in Australia and New Zealand. The 28-year-old continued his good form for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL 2019, which convinced many that he should be named in the starting XI during the World Cup.

But Virat Kohli went in with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah as his pacers, and Shami only replaced an injured Bhuvneshwar against Afghanistan. Defending a low total of 224, Shami not only gave the first breakthrough but also picked up a hat-trick in the final over to seal a thrilling win.

With a bit of help from the pitch against West Indies, Shami produced a quality spell of seam bowling to dismiss Chris Gayle, Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer. Against England, his 5-wicket haul was the only solace for the bowling attack as the others were smashed by the English batsmen.

Shami ended the World Cup with 14 wickets from four games. Had he played all the games, he might well have finished as the tournament's highest wicket-taker.

#1 Ravindra Jadeja - India

Jadeja silenced his critic with a brilliant knock

With the to take wickets in the middle overs being a high priority for India after Champions Trophy 2017, Ravindra Jadeja was dropped from the limited-overs setup. But injuries to players made the selectors pick him for the Asia Cup. His impressive spell of 4-29 against Bangladesh earned him the Man of the Match award in his comeback game.

Jadeja contributed with the bat as well to help India win the final of the Asia Cup. With his all-round abilities, experts felt he was a certainty in the playing XI. Jadeja was particularly expected to play a huge part in the second half of the tournament as the pitches slowed down.

But India started the World Cup with two wrist spinners. Surprisingly, the team management kept Jadeja out until the last league game against Sri Lanka.

It was because of Jadeja that India even came close to winning the semi-final, as he scored an enthralling 77 off 59 balls. The Saurashtra all-rounder was the tournament's best fielder, saving as many as 41 runs.