Outlook – July 28, 2019

29 July 2019 OutlOOk 89

Yet another product of the seemingly unending

Pakistani assembly line of fast bowlers, the

six­foot­six left an unforgettable impression

with his left­arm pace, swing, and toe­bruising

yorkers. Wayward at first, the teenager from

the Khyber Agency ended up as the ninth top

wicket­taker of the tournament, though he

played only five matches. His career­best

performance (6/35 against Bangladesh at

Lord’s) was also the best of this World

Cup as well as the best for Pakistan

in ODIs. At 19, he also became the

youngest to take a five­wicket

haul in a World Cup. This

younger brother of ex­Paki­

stan pacer Riaz will

sweep batters,

literally, off their

feet if nurtured

properly.

Starc seems to have simply,

amazingly, extended his form of

the 2015 World Cup, where he

captured a ‘Man of the Tour na­

ment’­worthy 22 wickets at a

disturbingly destructive 10.18.

In a WC where speedsters

used knuckle­balls and

cross­seamed slowers as

their stock­in­trade on

slowing, unresponsive

pitches, Starc made a

feint of slowing down—mostly, his

searing in­swingers rattled the best.

As strike bowler, he returned two

five­wicket hauls and two four­wicket

bursts and was instrumental, along

with Warner (647 runs), Finch (507)

and Cummins (14 wickets), in taking

Australia into the semi­finals. Starc

has been the Aussie stalker­in­chief

over eight years; his inexplicable loss

of form against England we judge as

an aberration.

Mitchell Starc, 29

austraLia

Left-arm fast, left-handed bat

World Cup show

Matches 10 | Wkts 27 | Avg 18.59 | Economy 5.43 | Best 5/26

India’s vice­captain

headed to the World Cup

on the back of two

half­centuries against

Australia at home

and finished as the

top run aggrega­

tor of the tourna­

ment. Although

he failed to score when it

mattered most, in the

semi­final against New

Zealand, he had struck

five centuries earlier,

three of those on the trot,

and came within touching

distance of breaking the

record of most runs in a

single World Cup. It

meant that his fellow

Mumbaikar Sachin

Tendulkar’s record of 673,

scored in the 2003 World

Cup, still stands. Though

luck favoured him with

dropped chances early in

his innings, Rohit capital­

ised spectacularly. The

nearly unbearable light­

ness of touch with which

he glided towards those

knocks left an indelible

impress. Some, including

Wasim Jaffer, now want

the ‘hitman’ to replace

Kohli as ODI captain.

Jofra Archer,

24

enGLanD

Right-arm fast,

right-handed bat

World Cup show

Matches 11 | Wkts 20 |

Avg 23.05 |

Economy 4.57 |

Best 3/27

The smooth, gently lop­

ing approach to the wic­

ket belies a fierce burst

of pace that harries the

soundest of opening def­

ences. Respect for Jofra

Archer is accorded as

ine vitably as his follow­

on. The esteem in which

England hold this Bar­

badian import became

evident from the fact

that English residency

rules were amended to

pick him for the WC. He

had played three ODIs

and one T20 till then. But

the gangly, loose­limbed

speedster (a new

‘Whispering Death’? Ah,

give us time) didn’t dis­

appoint—he finished as

the third­highest wick­

et­taker with 20 scalps.

Morgan chose him for

the needle­on­the­edge

super over. Archer didn’t

let England down. Play­

ing in the West Indies

under­19 team in 2013,

Archer was laid low with

a back injury. His assault

on the summit of his

trade happened thou­

sands of kilometres

away in England.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, 19

pakistan

Left-arm fast, left-handed bat

World Cup show

Matches 5 | Wkts 16 | Avg: 14.62 | Economy 4.96 | Best 6/35

Photographs: getty images, aP