Four years ago, England defeated New Zealand in an entertaining and nerve-breaking thriller by the barest margin in Cricket History to claim their maiden ICC World Cup Trophy. However, the intensity of that final match was so high that it made us forget that the edition of the World Cup had given us some other nail-biting thrillers to cherish.
New Zealand celebrating the wicket of Joe Root in the World Cup final of 2019. Photo – Getty Images
The ICC World Cup 2019 Final between England and New Zealand can hardly be forgotten by any Cricket fan, especially by the Kiwis. The drama, the thriller got everyone to bite their nail to the very last ball of the match. We got so many other exciting and thriller-packed matches during the tournament but we forget to remember those moments due to the intensity of this match.
There was New Zealand and West Indies’ last ball thriller match, a close match between India and Afghanistan, and the nerve-wrenching semi-final between India and New Zealand where Dhoni and Jadeja’s cameo had almost ended the hope for Kiwis.
All these matches gave us some stellar performances by some players throughout the tournament who are not a part of this edition’s World Cup which is to be played in India but considering all other sources and news officials then they have a good chance of making a comeback for their Country to play the World Cup.
Here’s a look at three of them:
#1 Ben Stokes – England
Ben Stokes with the 2019 World Cup winner’s medal. Photo – Getty
Benjamin Andrew Stokes, the player of the match in the final, shook the whole world after announcing his sudden retirement in July last year. He mentioned that Playing all three formats was not sustainable for him so he wanted to focus only on Tests and T20I for better management of his time and health.
Although he has already hinted at coming out of retirement, it is still not officially confirmed by him. But if he does then this would be the moment for England to clinch another World Cup Title. That might be partly true because It is uncertain if he can make a comeback in ODIs. He has still not played any ODI for a long time now.
However, not to forget that, Ben Stoke is a one-player Army for his team. He helped England in winning last year’s T-20 World Cup in Australia. From every department, he is just so perfect for his team. He contributed with the bat and guided his team to another ICC title against Pakistan in the 2022 T-20 final.
Also, the bowling Coach of the England Men’s Team Matthew Mott says, “Door is still open for Ben Stokes to make ODI comeback ahead of World Cup.”
#2 Faf du Plessis
In frame: Faf du Plessis. Photo – Getty Images
Veteran South African batter Faf du Plessis has reportedly met with new Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter to discuss his potential return to international cricket. Although he retired from Test cricket two years ago, he has expressed his willingness to play in the ODI and T20I formats.
Despite his availability, the Proteas selectors overlooked him for the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cup squads. However, du Plessis continues to excel in T20 leagues worldwide, and he was recently the second-highest run-scorer in the SA20 tournament, with 369 runs at an average of 41.00 and a strike rate of 147.60.
Du Plessis played his last ODI match for South Africa against Australia at the 2019 World Cup, while his last T20I was against England in late 2020. He hopes to make a comeback to the team soon and make a valuable contribution with his experience and skills.
#3 Kane Williamson
In frame – Kane Williamson. Photo – Twitter
Kane Williamson who was a key player for New Zealand in the last World Cup tournament got injured while attempting to save a boundary in the opening game of the IPL against CSK, playing from the Gujarat Titan’s side. Later, when he got checked up, he got diagnosed with ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and has been ruled out from the 2023 ODI World Cup this year but this hasn’t been officially confirmed yet. So, he might make a comeback before the World Cup this year.
Williamson was a vital cog in New Zealand’s batting unit as they made it to the final of both the 2015 and 2019 editions of the ODI World Cup.
Williamson is trying his best to make a comeback before the World Cup. He has been recovering well. Williamson, 32, who has scored 6554 runs in ODIs at 47.83, said any training he was doing was “elementary” at the moment and he looked forward to getting back in the nets.
“Probably more for sanity and changing things up… just nice to mix up all the gym work and the physio work and rehab-specific stuff to spend a bit of time with some of the other guys that are training,” he said. “Super keen to get back in the nets, for sure.”
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