AT THE 2015 WORLD CUP
The 2011 World Cup is extremely special for all Indian cricket fans, me being no exception. With India winning international cricket's most coveted title after a gap of 28 long years, the scenes of captain M S Dhoni sealing the victory in the finals over the Lankans with his trade mark 'helicopter shot' or that of Harbhajan Singh and Virat Kohli carrying batting legend Sachin Tendulkar post the prize distribution ceremony on his home ground at the Wankhede in Mumbai still fill our chest with pride. Overall, the entire 45 day tournament hosted by three Asian countries was hailed as a major success, generating millions of dollars in revenue apart from the display of quality cricket from players of the 14 participating nations. As the next edition of the series co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand is all set to kick-off in the next couple of weeks, here is a look at the five players who we will miss at the 2015 Cricket World Cup.
(4) Jonathan Trott: The stylish right handed batsman was England's most prolific run getter in the last edition of the world cup. Having scored five half centuries and ending with an excellent average of little over 60, he was fourth on the list of the highest run scoring batsmen, behind some of the best batters of our generation including Sachin Tendulkar and Kumara Sangakkara. In 2011, he became synonymous with 'consistency'; top scoring in 4 of the 7 matches that England played in the series including a brilliant 86 against Sri Lanka in the fourth quarter finals that saw the end of English efforts to win their maiden world cup. Possibly, the only thing that Trott could have done was that he failed to convert his starts into big scores. Battling stress-related issues since 2013 that even saw him pull out of the Ashes midway, the 33 year old was left out of the list of 30 probables for the tournament in a move that surprised many. It is now up to the young guns - Morgan, Root and Ballance to shoulder responsibility of the English batting order in absence of ace performers including Trott and his then captain Andy Strauss.
(2) Sachin Tendulkar: There is hardly a list which the batting maestro from Mumbai does not top. Still, I rate him the second on this count down. Anyway, international cricket's greatest batsman who like Murali was playing his final world cup always has a penchant for delivering on the biggest stage of them all. Featuring in all editions of the tournament since 1992, he is the highest run scorer in world cup history having amassed a staggering 2278 runs. Of this, 482 came in 2011 when Sachin emerged as the second highest run getter behind Dilshan. The batting legend scored two centuries, both of which came against quality oppositions. An innings of 120 against England and another ton versus South Africa, the only match that India lost in the series. Besides, he went past the 50 mark on two occasions. Playing the final in front of his home crowd in Mumbai, he was out cheaply. Nonetheless, appreciating his contribution to Indian cricket as a whole and for inspiring a generation of Indians across different streams, the young brigade honored Sachin by carrying him on their shoulders in the post match celebration while he waved the tricolor. With this win, he achieved the only laurel that had eluded the Little Master for so long, silencing his few remaining critics. There is no doubt that India is going to miss its greatest cricketing son in this edition of the world cup.
