ODI World Cup 2023: Rating of Captaincy Performance in Second Week

The second week of the ODI World Cup 2023 from October 12- October 19, saw some big upsets happening in the tournament. New Zealand and India continued their winning run despite playing two matches each this week.

On the other hand, Australia ended their losing run this week. For Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and England, it was a week to forget. Especially for England as they lost to Afghanistan for the first time in ODIs. South Africa had a mixed bag of sorts as they defeated Australia, but were ambushed by the Netherlands and were left shocked. 

Much of the credit for the wins and blame for the defeats should go to the team, but it is shared by the captains as well. They are the ones leading their teams, making decisions in the field and the batting order. Sometimes, some decisions give results like goldmines, and sometimes they come back to bite hard. 

With this in mind, here is how the captains have been rated in the second week of the ICC ODI World Cup 2023:   

10. Hashmatullah Shahidi (Afghanistan)- 5/10

Hashmatullah Shahidi had a mixed bag in both leadership and ideas in two matches Afghanistan played in the second week of the ICC World Cup 2023. Afghanistan caused an upset by defeating England and then lost to New Zealand in Delhi and Chennai, respectively. 

Defending 284 against England, Shahidi cleverly had Rashid Khan, his trump card kept back as pacers and Mohammad Nabi picked early wickets. Rashid along with Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman ran through the England middle order to give a big win to Afghanistan.

Against New Zealand, Shahidi had them 110/4 but once again kept Rashid Khan back and this time the ploy backfired. Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips took the game away from them and Shahidi’s decision proved to be fatal for Afghanistan.