Names not Appearing this World Cup

Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzaq is an all round player of Pakistan and one whose contribution to Pakistan’s cricket is impressive. Razzaq is right handed batsman and has been known to be a hard hitter of the ball. His huge sixes and excellent strokes have always been a joy to watch for the Pakistani cricket fans. Razzaq is a medium fast bowler and a known wicket taker especially in times when the Pakistani side needs it the most. His consistency and reliability have helped Pakistan on numerous occasions. Razzaq has scored 5080 runs with an average of 29.70, strike rate of 81.25 and 3 centuries along with 23 half centuries to his name. Razzaq is not included in 2015 world cup squad

Alastair Cook

Alaistar Cook , was the former captain of the English cricket team up till very recently. He is a right handed opening batsman who made his debut in 2006 in international cricket. A tall , lean defensive batsman with a good technique to handle both pace and bounce when it matters , he made his mark in test cricket more than he did in limited overs. His tally of 3204 runs in the limited overs format include 5 centuries and 19 half centuries with strike rate of 77.13 .

Andrew Strauss

Andrew Strauss, one of the most successful captains for English cricket team, is an all-rounder opening batsman and a left-arm medium pacer. Strauss has scored a total of 4205 in 127 One-Day Internationals with an average of 35.63 and reserves a strike rate of 80.94. The left-arm batsman has six centuries, 27 fifties with 454 fours and 25 sixes to his credit. He is known for his pull and cut shots including his fielding strengths flaunted at the slips or in the covers. His best score in his ODI career is 158.

Gautam Gambhir

India’s impressive all-rounder Gautam Gambhir, who is an opening left-handed batsman and a right-arm leg break bowler, is known to be the best player of spin in India. Gambhir reserves an extraordinary career graph with 5238 runs off 147 matches and a calculated strike rate of 85.25 scoring 39.68 on average. With 11 centuries and 34 fifties Gautam has hit 561 fours and 7 sixes while 150 not out serves as his career’s best.

Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith, South Africa’s former captain who succeeded Shaun Pollack after World Cup 2003 holds the pride to rebuild team’s confidence under his captaincy. Significant with the bat, Smith’s greatest ODI performance is a 141 run knock . As a left-hand opening batsman, he scored 6989 runs in 197 matches with a strike rate of 80.81 and 37.98 on average. Phenomenal record of 27 ODI hundreds and 38 fifties with 1165 fours and 24 sixes make Smith quite a performer.

Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting is an Australian middle order batsman who has the honor of being the most successful test captain ever. On the individual side, he has achieved a treble of awards namely; ICC Player of the Year - 2006, 2007. ICC Test Player of the Year - 2003, 2004, 2006 & One-Day International Player of the Year – 2002. He has surpassed 13 thousand runs in both test and ODI formats. An aggressive right handed player, he has always performed when the team needed him most. He has been a part of 3 World Cup winning teams. He retired in 2012 after achieving all kinds of milestones.

Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar, one of the most celebrated cricketers world has ever produced, is an Indian maestro who has scores of records under his belt as a batsman. The right-handed batsman has scored most number of runs in Test cricket as well as One-Day Internationals (ODI). Sachin scored a total of 18,426 runs in 463 ODIs at an average of 44.83 runs and strike rate of 86.23 with the help of 49 centuries and 96 half-centuries.

Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag is an explosive top order batsman from India. He burst into the scene with a century in 2001 against South Africa at Bloemfontein where his aggresive strokeplay and minimalist footwork caught the eye. He went on to break many records and become the part of every World Cup campaign since. His high score of 219 in One Day Internationals is a record in itself. He is among the few batsman who have played more than 100 innings and had a strike rate of greater than 100. A stutter in 2007 saw his team crash in ’07 world cup but he returned to form in the next edition which saw his team lift the cup. He has been dropped from the current squad due to lack of form.