ICC World XI: Player Analysis – Part 3
AB de Villiers
One of two South Africans to be included in the ICC World XI squad, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers more commonly known on the score sheet as AB de Villiers, forced his way into the side for his hard hitting batting performances.
De Villiers finished in ninth place in the batsman standings of the ICC World Cup 2011. The South African batsman amassed a total of 353 runs, which although is an impressive stat on its own becomes even more so if one learns that de Villiers did so in just
five matches.
To fully understand why De Villiers was named in the prestigious side, one need only look at the matches the South African played in.
Against the West Indies, the South African batsman led the way for his team with an entertaining century. His unbeaten knock of 107 runs came off just 105 deliveries, as de Villiers led his side to their first win of the campaign.
There was more in his locker though, as he destroyed the Netherlands’ bowling attack. Smashing the Dutch for 13 fours and four sixes, De Villiers seemed possessed as his 134 run blitz came off just 98 deliveries.
The South African batsman had made a name for himself and had bowlers worried when he came out to bat. Unfortunately, De Villiers missed the two group matches against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747, with the crowd missing out on the opportunity to watch him play.
De Villiers demonstrated that he could produce his ruthless form against the best sides in the world as well when he just needed 39 deliveries to score 52 runs.
In the end http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AB-de-Villiers-c887 did not play as many matches as the fans or he, himself, would have liked. The performances the South African did put in however were enough to be noticed by the panel of selectors and earned him a place among the best players of
the World Cup.
Yuvraj Singh
A 2011 World XI team without the Indian all rounder http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yuvraj-Singh-c98364 would have been a sin. Yuvraj was the second of three Indian players to be included in the squad for their outstanding performances in the World Cup.
Awarded the title of ‘Player of the Tournament’ for his inspirational performances in every department of the game, Yuvraj’s name would have been the first on the list when the panel sat down to select the side.
The exciting Indian all rounder’s statistics in the World Cup speak for themselves. Having played in each match of the Indian team’s World Cup campaign, Yuvraj ended the tournament with a batting average of 90.50 runs per match.
Yuvraj scored a total of 362 runs which was the highest for any all rounder in the entire tournament, which included a brilliant century against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 in their final Group B match.
His contribution to the side are made apparent by the fact that he reached the half century mark four times to go along with his 113 run high score. To put it into perspective, Yuvraj passed the 50 run mark five times in nine matches.
The scary thing is that his performances with the bat are only half the story, as he was equally potent on the field and with the ball.
[Continued in 'ICC World XI: Player Analysis – Part 4']
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