5 players who unexpectedly won their side a World Cup

World Cup is an event in the game of cricket for which every player waits eagerly. It is due to the fact that cricketers get a chance to become national heroes in the World Cup by helping their team to achieve big with their stellar performances. Some veterans prove their worth for the team in this biggest carnival of cricket.

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Whereas there are also the players who seem less effective in the regular days of cricket but they suddenly emerge as a star for the team and lead to the World Cup win. So, here we’ll have a look at five cricketers who were not so effective in the regular cricketing days but whose performance in the World Cup led to the title win.

Mitchell Marsh, 20-20 World Cup 2021 Final

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The Australian team was playing in the final of the 2021 20-20 World Cup against New Zealand. Skipper Aaron Finch decided to bowl first after winning the toss. The Kiwi team posted a decent total of 172 runs for the loss of four wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Kane Williamson played an excellent captaincy knock of 85 runs off just 48 balls.

While chasing the target, the Aussies lost their wicket in the form of skipper Aaron Finch only on the total of 15 runs on the board. But then came the 30-year-old all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and he took the charge with senior batter David Warner. Marsh went on to smash a blistering knock of 77 runs off just 50 balls with six boundaries and four sixes to his name. He also won the award of player of the match for his heroics and helped his team to win the maiden title in the history of the 20-20 World Cup.

Carlos Braithwaite, 20-20 World Cup 2016 Final

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England and West Indies were locking horns in the final of the 2016 20-20 World Cup at Kolkata’s Eden Garden Stadium. Everybody was waiting to see who will win the second 20-20 World Cup as both teams had previously won the titles in 2010 and 2012 respectively. Everything was going almost in the favor of the English team till the last over.

West Indies needed 19 runs off the last over, skipper Eoin Morgan introduced star all-rounder Ben Stokes into the attack against Carlos Brathwaite. All the fans in the stadium or those watching on TV sets were assured of a tough fight in the last over between the bat and the ball.

But the Barbados-based all-rounder stunned everyone with his four consecutive sixes on the first four balls of the over and helped the team to clinch the second 20-20 World Cup title. Since then, he has also become the highlight of the Indian T20 League.

Marlon Samuels, 20-20 World Cup 2012 Final

It was the second time Sri Lanka when reached the final of the 20-20 World Cup. Mahela Jayawardene & co crossed the swords with the Caribbean side in the final of the 2012 world Cup. West Indies was playing the final for the first time in the 20-20 World Cup. Skipper Darren Sammy decided to bat after winning the toss at the slow wicket of RPS.

The Caribbean side was struggling to score the runs but the star Jamaican batter Marlon Samuels was there in the middle to rescue the team. He played a brilliant knock of 78 off just 56 balls with three boundaries and six sixes to his name and. Samuels helped the team to reach the total of 137 runs for the loss of six wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Later on, the Caribbean bowling attack bundled the hosts only on the score of 101 runs in 18.4 overs. Samuels won the award of player of the match for his excellent match-defining knock.

Craig Kieswetter, 20-20 World Cup 2010 Final

The third edition of the 20-20 World Cup was being played in 2010 just 10 months after the conclusion of the previous edition in 2009. After enjoying excellent success in the group stage and the semi-finals, England and Australia locked horns in the final of the tournament. The world cricket was eager to see who will be the new champion of T20I cricket as it was the first 20-20 World Cup final of both teams.

English skipper Paul Collingwood won the toss and asked Australians to bat first. Australia posted a total of 147 runs for the loss of six wickets in the allotted 20 overs with David Hussey’s half-century knock.

While chasing the target England lost their first wicket only on the score of 7, but it was the time when wicketkeeper-batter Craig Kieswetter took the charge alongside senior batter Kevin Pietersen to make a mammoth 111-run partnership for the second wicket. Kieswetter ended up being the player of the match for his excellent knock of 63 runs off 49 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes to his name.

Joginder Sharma, 20-20 World Cup 2007 Final

The inaugural edition of the 20-20 World Cup. The stage was all set up at the Wanderers Stadium of Johannesburg to find the first-ever champions of 20-20 World Cup. 15 years back, it was the year 2007 when two arch-rivals India and Pakistan were crossing swords in the final of the 20-20 World Cup 2007. Match was not less than any thriller movie.

Young Indian skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first, on the backs of the batting heroics of Gautam Gambhir and the crucial knock of Rohit Sharma in the end, India posted a total of 157 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Now, all eyes were on Pakistan’s run-chase, Indian bowlers made it quite comfortable for the title win when they scalped seven Pakistani batters only on the total score of 104 runs. But Misbah-ul-Haq had some other plans. He took the match till the last over. Pakistan now needed only 13 runs off the last over.

MS Dhoni played a gamble by introducing young Joginder Sharma into the attack over senior Harbhajan Singh. Joginder Sharma bowled a huge wide on the first delivery, then a big six followed by a dot.

Now, Pakistan needed only 6 runs off the last four balls but Sharma didn’t lose hope and trapped Misbah on the third ball to play a scoop in the hands of Sreesanth which eventually missed their chances of winning the World Cup.