Meet the underdogs of this year’s World Cup

This year’s World Cup is not just about Virat Kohli’s smashing 107 against Pakistan or Chris Gayle’s record-breaking 215 against Zimbabwe. There are other players like UAE’s Shaiman Anwar who scored over 300 runs in the tournament, including a century against Ireland and two half-centuries against Pakistan and Zimbabwe and Afghanistan’s Samiullah Shenwari, whose 96 runs against Scotland gave Afghanistan their first win. Here’s a look at the underdogs of this year’s World Cup who have shone bright and broken stereotypes of the game.
Team: UAE

Achievements: This UAE player of Pakistani origin has made 309 runs in the tournament, the most runs made by any batsman from an Associate team of the World Cup.

High Moment: When he made 106 runs in the UAE vs Ireland match.

Mahmudullah Riyad

Team: Bangladesh

Achievements: The first Bangladeshi batsman to strike consecutive centuries in a World Cup tournament.

High Moment: Remaining unbeaten at 128 from 123 balls against New Zealand, he entered the top five list of run scorers in this Cup.

Hamid Hassan

Team: Afghanistan

Achievements: Hamid Hassan, the Afghan fast bowler has emerged as a cult figures of the tournament. He has taken seven wickets in the tournament, including three against Sri Lanka. He is also the first Afghani to have played at the Lord’s stadium in June 2007.

High Moment: Hassan’s biggest wicket this year Kumar Sangakkara’s. “I was just enjoying that wicket because everyone knows that Sangakkara is the number one batsman in the world,” he told a cricket website.

Josh Davey

Team: Scotland

Achievements: Scotland’s Josh Davey has 14 wickets this World Cup and that puts him in the second position among leading wicket takers, much ahead of established bowlers from other teams.

High Moment: Though Scotland has not won a match, Josh Davey has made his mark in the tournament. His scalps include those of Sri Lankan veterans like Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene.

Shapoor Zadran

Team: Afghanistan

Achievements: He gave the country its first win in the World Cup. With eight wickets, he is among the top 10 wicket-takers in the Cup but it’s his unbeaten 12 runs in 10 balls as the last player against Scotland that saw him trending on social networks.

High Moment: His boundary at 49.3 to give Afghanistan their first-ever World Cup win. He also took four wickets for 38 runs against Scotland.

Sean Williams

Team: Zimbabwe

Achievements: Though his team has lost four out of five games, Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams has been one of their outstanding performers. Williams has 289 runs to his credit in the tournament with three half centuries.

High Moment: His best innings came against Ireland, where he joined Brendan Taylor in the middle at 74/4. While Taylor constructed a dominant hundred, Williams stood by him and scored 96 keeping the Irish team under threat.

Ed Joyce

Team: Ireland

Achievements: Ed Joyce is best known as the Ireland batsman who played for two different countries, Ireland and England, in successive World Cups.

High Moment: He scored 112 against Zimbabwe with a 138-run partnership with Andy Balbirnie.

Samiullah Shenwari

Team: Afghanistan

Achievements: Samiullah Shenwari said that he had simply done his job after scoring 96 runs against Scotland, which led Afghanistan towards its first-ever World cup win. Though Afghanistan collapsed to 97 for seven to achieve the target of 211, Shenwari turned the tables with his 147-ball innings.

High Moment: Shenwari came on the crease when Afghanistan was 46 for 2. And he did not leave till the 47th over.