South Africa were knocked out of the ICC Word Cup 2019 after their embarrassing 49-run loss against Pakistan at Lord’s in their last game. Their performance as an overall team was below par in the tournament with big players like Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis and Kagiso Rabada failing to deliver for the team when it mattered.
After the game against Pakistan, the South African skipper, in the post-match press conference said that the team management tried to stop him from playing the IPL ahead of the World Cup with concerns that if he would get enough preparation time and rest ahead of the World Cup.
His response came in return for a question thrown at him on Rabada’s lack of performance in the tournament.
“I mean, I spoke about it before the IPL even started, that it’s important that we try and find space to rest our three-format players, because they play all the formats all the time, and then IPL.”Faf du Plessis
Rabada picked up 12 wickets from 12 games before the South African team management decided to get him back for World Cup preparations. He picked up a back injury at the back-end of the tournament. Rabada’s stats in this tournament read six wickets from seven games averaging 50.83.
Dale Steyn being ruled out of the World Cup meant that there was added pressure on Rabada to deliver for South Africa.
Further in the press conference, Faf said that despite luck not running his way, Rabada has been trying his best to give his best in the tournament.
“KG is trying. But I suppose, the same thing, it’s that a lot of the guys are struggling with at the moment is they haven’t started the tournament well; and therefore, your confidence has taken a bit of a hit, and it just rolls on. It’s such a snowball effect that your performance, you open your eyes, and you’re doing the same thing again.”Faf du Plessis
However, while Rabada failed to peform for South Africa after his lengthy stay in the IPL, there were players from other teams who have performed well despite playing a large chunk of the tournament. Even Imran Tahir has tasted success in the tournament where he has failed miserably.
Below is the list of players who have tasted success in the World Cup despite playing through the IPL season.
Imran Tahir
Despite South Africa not making it to the final four and Rabada not hitting form, Imran Tahir has had a World Cup to remember. Aging 40 and playing his last World Cup, Imran Tahir has taken 10 wickets from seven games so far in the World Cup. He has bowled with an economy of 4.89 to back his figures. He also went past Allan Donald to become South Africa’s leading wicket taker in World Cup with 39 scalps.
David Warner
Finishing the IPL 2019 as the top scorer with 692 runs at an average of 69.20, Warner has managed to hold onto his form in the World Cup for Australia as well. With two centuries so far in the tournament, Warner is leading the run-charts with 500 runs from seven games so far.
He has been scoring these runs at a handsome average of 83.33. He played 12 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.
Rohit Sharma
Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who led Mumbai to their fourth IPL title, played 15 matches in the tournament. With the bat he scored 405 runs averaging 28. Coming into World Cup, Rohit bettered his average by a huge margin as he scored 320 runs from five games.
Like Warner, Rohit also scored two centuries in the tournament so far. One against South Africa and the other against Pakistan.
Kane Williamson
Williamson scored just 156 runs from 9 games in the IPL as he averaged a mere 22.28 in the IPL. The World Cup has brought out the best from the Kiwi skipper so far.
373 runs from just four innings with two centuries, Kane has been the batting pillar for the Kiwis so far in the tournament.
Lasith Malinga
Veteran Sri Lankan pacer, who is probably playing his last World Cup, has also stepped up for Sri Lanka when his team needed him the most against England. His 4/43 helped Sri Lanka register an emphatic win over England to keep their last chances alive in the tournament. Heading into the IPL, he bowled decisive spells for Mumbai Indians as they won their fourth IPL title.
12 wickets from 16 matches in the IPL and now 8 wickets from four matches in the World Cup so far, Malinga is aging like fine wine.
"So I don't think it's not necessarily just the IPL, but it was important for a few guys to rest; and the fact that they didn't mean that – you know, they came into the tournament not fresh. That's not an excuse; that's just a fact. And KG is – you can see that his pace is probably a little bit down from where he normally is,” said Du Plessis to close the Rabada chapter in the press conference.
South Africa’s last two games are against Sri Lanka (28 June) and Australia ( 6 July) and du Plessis would ideally hope that Rabada picks wickets and helps them with both those matches.
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