The ongoing edition of the T20 World Cup 2021 has witnessed several moments during the passage of the play. Batsmen, bowlers, and fielders had their say in pressure situations. At the same time, there were quite a lot of expectations from some big players. However, there are some who underperformed in the showpiece event when it mattered the most.
The tournament has almost come to a close. New Zealand reached the first T20 World Cup final by beating England in the semi-final. Kiwis registered a 5-wicket win. On the other hand, Australia defeated Pakistan by 5 wickets in the second semi-final. Let us have a look at the list of big names who failed to live up to the reputation in this tournament.
Openers – Chris Gayle and Quinton de Kock
The Universe Boss is arguably the best batsman in the T20s. He is the most experienced cricketer and the leading run-getter in the shortest format. He signed off T20I format with scores of 13, 15, 4, 12, and 1 respectively. Quinton de Kock came under fire when he didn’t take a knee. The wicketkeeper-batsman didn’t live up to his reputation in the marquee event. He managed to score 69 runs off four innings. He maintained a poor batting average of just 17.25.
Middle-order – Glenn Maxwell, Shakib Al Hasan, and Kieron Pollard
Glenn Maxwell was one of the top performers of IPL 2021. He led the RCB batting attack by example. However, the cricket fraternity didn’t see him in that beast mode in the T20 World Cup 2021. He aggregated only 29 runs in 5 innings. Shakib Al Hasan was brilliant in the first round of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. He scored runs consistently and played a big role with both bat and ball in helping Bangladesh reach the Super 12 stage.
However, the southpaw couldn’t replicate those performances in the Super 12 round. In the three matches he played in the Super 12 round, he scored 10, 4, and 9. West Indies captain Kieron Pollard is another big name who underperformed in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. He not only failed as a batsman but also as a captain. Under his captaincy, the defending champions won just one game against Bangladesh. Pollard scored just 90 runs in 5 games, which was not good enough.
All-rounders – Hardik Pandya and Dwayne Bravo
Once Hardik Pandya told that he wants to be “Jacques Kallis of India”. However, the reality is that he hasn’t lived up to his reputation. He failed to time the balls properly and has a lot of catching to do to be a proper all-rounder. There is no denying that Dwayne Bravo is one of the best bowlers in the shortest format. However, he could only pick 2 wickets with the ball in the entire Super 12 stage. Given the way he bowled for CSK on the same surfaces, his performance in the T20 World Cup left everyone surprised.
Bowlers – Keshav Maharaj, Hasan Ali, Dushmantha Chameera, and Ravi Rampaul
Hasan Ali is the only bowler in the Pakistan bowling line-up who perhaps didn’t bowl well in the Super 12 stage. He conceded runs a lot more than he should have and only picked 5 wickets in 5 matches at an average of 32.60. West Indies seamer, Ravi Rampaul was selected on the basis of his performance in CPL 2021. However, even he failed to replicate those in ICC T20 World Cup 2021. He was the leading wicket-taker in CPL 2021 but picked only 2 wickets in the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup.
Besides, Keshav Maharaj should complete the Flop XI. Of all the bowlers in the South Africa attack, Keshav Maharaj looked the least impressive. In 5 matches, he picked only 3 wickets at an average of 42.33. Sri Lankan fans expected Chameera to do well with the ball to lead the pace attack by example. As it turned out, he picked up just 4 wickets and only one of them was a prized wicket. He conceded too many runs i.e. 10 runs per over in 5 games.
