The 2023 ODI World Cup is more than five weeks old now. Looking at the points table after week five, Sri Lanka and Netherlands joined England and Bangladesh among the teams who have been knocked out of the competition. Pakistan and Afghanistan only have a mathematical chance as New Zealand have all but secured their semi-finals berth following their five-wicket win over Sri Lanka.
Looking at the top four of the points table, Team India maintain the numero uno position with 16 points from eight matches. They will finish on top of the standings even if they lose their last league match to the Netherlands. South Africa and Australia are second and third, respectively, with 12 points from eight games, separated by the net run rate. New Zealand are fourth and look all set to remain there courtesy of their impressive net run rate. On that note, let’s look at the flop World Cup 2023 XI of week five.
Openers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Travis Head
Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Australia’s Travis Head would open the innings in the flop World Cup 2023 XI of week five. The big-hitting Gurbaz was dismissed for 10 against Netherlands and followed it up with 21 against Australia.
Head also had a poor weak, opening the batting for the Aussies. He managed only 11 in the much-hyped clash against Ashes rivals England and was dismissed for a duck, playing a poor stroke in the game against Afghanistan.
Middle-order: Joe Root, Kusal Mendis (captain), Jos Buttler, Josh Inglis (wk)
England’s experienced batter Joe Root’s horror run with the willow continued in week five. He was dismissed for 13 against Australia, caught behind off Mitchell Starc. Root was then dismissed in embarrassing fashion against Netherlands for 28. He was bowled between his legs by Logan van Beek, attempting a cheeky reverse scoop.
Sri Lankan captain Kusal Mendis will lead the flop XI of week five. He failed to inspire the team with the bat and in the field. Mendis was dismissed for 1 against India, cleaned up by Mohammed Siraj. He looked completely out of sorts against Bangladesh and holed out for 19.
England captain Jos Buttler makes it to the flop XI for yet another week as his disastrous run with the bat continued in the tournament. The man, who has owned up responsibility for the team’s disastrous campaign, was dismissed for single-figure scores against Australia and Netherlands, perishing for 1 and 5, respectively. Buttler would like to forget the World Cup like a bad dream.
Australia’s Josh Inglis would be the keeper-batter in the team, although Buttler can also don the gloves. Inglis was a massive disappointment for the Aussies in week five. He was dismissed for 3 against England and fell for a golden duck against Afghanistan.
Bowlers: Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf
There is no proper all-rounder in the flop XI of week five, but Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Ish Sodhi can contribute with the willow. Mujeeb makes the team following a horror show against Australia. After registering figures of 1/40 against the Netherlands, he dropped a simple catch of Glenn Maxwell. The rest is history. He conceded 0/72 in 8.5 overs and was absolutely clobbered by the Aussie.
The Kiwi duo of leg-spinner Sodhi and left-arm pacer Trent Boult suffered in the wake of an onslaught from Fakhar Zaman in the match against Pakistan. Boult had figures of 0/60 from five overs in six overs, while Sodhi went for 44 in four, also failing to claim a wicket.
The Pakistan pace duo of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf also make the list for the battering they received in the same match against New Zealand. Afridi had figures of 0/90 in 10 overs, while Rauf finished with 1/85 from his 10-over quota.