ODI World Cup 2023: Best XI of benched players in the tournament

The ICC World Cup 2023 came to a glittering end with the Australian team becoming the champions for the sixth time. They ended the Indian team’s glorious run of wins in all 10 matches of the tournament and defeated them in the final. The summit clash happened in Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023. The World Cup 2023 was filled with many performers who excelled either with the bat or the ball or even with both. Virat Kohli ended up as the highest run-scorer with 765 runs with 3 centuries and 6 fifties to his name. Mohammad Shami was the highest wicket-taker with 24 scalps with best bowling figures of 7/57. However, there were some players from the 15-man squad who had to be benched for the team management to build the proper playing XI as per situations and needs. Some of the benched players got chances to showcase their talent and while some did well in the limited opportunities, others couldn’t. Today, we see the best XI from the benched players in the ICC World Cup 2023. Here is the Benched XI of the ICC World Cup 2023 tournament: 1. Will Young- New Zealand Will-Young. (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Gallo Images/Getty Images) Will Young played 6 matches for New Zealand and opened with Devon Conway in those matches. Interestingly, the Kiwis had to bring in Rachin Ravindra as a replacement for the injured Kane Williamson. When Ravindra performed excellently, and Williamson was ready to return, it meant that Will Young was dropped from the XI. Ravindra opened the innings in Young’s place and Williamson batted at number three. Meanwhile, in his 6 matches, Young made an impact, scoring 206 runs with a best score of 70 and two fifties to his name. 2. Fakhar Zaman- Pakistan (C) Fakhar Zaman. (Photo Source: X(Twitter) Fakhar Zaman was suffering from a knee injury which meant that despite Pakistan naming him in the squad, couldn’t play him in a few initial matches. Imam Ul Haq and Abdullah Shafique opened for Pakistan in their first five matches. However, Zaman had to be brought in as the Men in Green faced elimination from the race for semi-finals. Fakhar Zaman made an immediate impact with 81 against Bangladesh in Kolkata and then played an amazing knock of 126* with 11 sixes and 3 fours in a must-win game against New Zealand in Bengaluru. Captain Babar Azam and Pakistan team management faced severe criticism for benching Zaman, once the batter revealed that his injury was not that serious and he could’ve played right from the start. 3. Ishan Kishan (WK)- India Ishan Kishan. (Photo Source: ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images) Ishan Kishan opened for India in the first two matches of the World Cup 2023 as Shubman Gill was recovering from a bout of dengue. Kishan got out for a golden duck on his World Cup debut against Australia in Chennai. However, he fared well against Afghanistan, as he made 47 runs as India chased 273 runs to win. But once Shubman Gill came back for the match against Pakistan, Ishan Kishan was relegated to the bench once again, especially with KL Rahul keeping wickets so well. 4. Najibullah Zadran- Afghanistan Najibullah Zadran. Najibullah Zadran played for Afghanistan in their first two matches in the ODI World Cup 2023. Against Bangladesh, he scored 5 runs, and then against India, he made 2 runs, as Afghanistan went on to lose both matches. Given this poor performance, Afghan team management decided to replace him with Ikram Alikhil in the XI, who impressed more. 5. Cameron Green- Australia Cameron Green. (Photo Source: Twitter) Cameron Green played his first World Cup for Australia but didn’t have much to do with either the bat or the ball. In all, he played three matches, against India, Netherlands, and England, and made a total of 63 runs. His best of 47 came against arch-rivals England. He only bowled two overs and couldn’t pick any wicket. 6. James Neesham- New Zealand Jimmy-Neesham. (Photo by Darrian Traynor-ICC/ICC via Getty Images) James Neesham played just 3 matches for New Zealand and in the two innings he batted, scored 58 and 0. His best knock of 58 came against Australia in a chase of 389 runs. His innings lower down the order, kept New Zealand in the game in Dharamshala. But once he got run out, the ask became too much for the remaining batters. He also got 2 wickets with his medium-pace bowling. 7. Sam Curran- England Sam-Curran. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) Sam Curran had come into this ICC World Cup 2023 on the back of a Man of the Tournament performance for England in their T20 World Cup 2022 win. However, in the 50-over ICC event, he failed to perform in the three matches he played. Curran made 35 runs and picked 2 wickets for England, who had their worst outing in World Cups ever. 8. Shardul Thakur- India Shardul Thakur. (Photo Source: RANDY BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images) Shardul Thakur played 3 matches for India in the World Cup 2023 as an extra batting and bowling option apart from Hardik Pandya. He didn’t get to bat in the three matches he played, against Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. With the ball, he picked up two wickets in total. After this, India preferred to play five proper bowlers, despite losing Hardik Pandya to injury, instead of recalling Shardul Thakur in the XI. 9. Mahedi Hasan- Bangladesh Mahedi Hasan. (Photo Source: X(Twitter) Bangladesh had its worst outing in a World Cup tournament in CWC 2023. They failed to win more than 2 matches and in the process, also failed to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 to be played in Pakistan. One player, whom Bangladesh could’ve given a few more games was Mahedi Hasan, who did well in the 3 matches he played. With the bat, Hasan made 33 runs with a best of 17, but his good performance came with the ball, where he took 6 wickets. His best bowling came against England in Dharamshala, where he picked 4/71, despite Bangladesh losing the match by 137 runs. 10. Ravichandran Ashwin- India Ravi Ashwin. (Photo Source: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images) Ravichandran Ashwin played only one game for India in the ICC World Cup 2023. His only appearance in the tournament came against Australia in what was India’s opening game of the CWC 2023. This match was played in Ashwin’s hometown of Chennai. He bowled well to pick one wicket, from Cameron Green, for 34 runs in his quota. But with other games to be played on less spin-friendly surfaces, India chose to replace Ashwin with Shardul Thakur. And then when Hardik Pandya got injured and ruled out of the World Cup, Ashwin still couldn’t make it into the XI, as Mohammad Shami was wreaking havoc with the ball. Many thought he should’ve played in the final in Ahmedabad, which was played on black soil surface. 11. Ish Sodhi- New Zealand New Zealand’s Ish Sodhi played only one game in the ICC World Cup 2023. This match was against Pakistan in Bengaluru, which was a must-win game for the Men in Green. Pakistan, despite chasing 401 runs to win, were actually going after the DLS par score with rain around the corner. Fakhar Zaman took Kiwi bowlers to cleaners in Bengaluru and Ish Sodhi gave away 44 runs in his 4 overs, getting hit for 3 sixes and 3 fours. In the end, Pakistan managed to win the game via the DLS method, by 21 runs.

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ODI World Cup 2023: Best XI of benched players in the tournament

These players showcased good performances whenever they got the chance but unfortunately warmed the bench for most of the tournament.

2. Fakhar Zaman- Pakistan (C)

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