The ODI World Cup 2023 marks the beginning of a new era. Players like Liam Livinsgtone, Babar Azam, and Hardik Pandya will come out of the World Cup becoming more experienced, eventually going on to become the senior-most players.
But if this is the beginning for these players, it will certainly mark the end of some of the most elusive names.
Names like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shakib al-Hasan, and David Warner might bow out of the tournament.
But there were also players who didn’t even get an opportunity to showcase their talent.
And we can’t ignore three top names who could have gotten a great farewell, but alas, they couldn’t manage to stay in the spotlight and were shown the door. If they had been a part of their squad, even in ODI World Cup betting, they would have been on top.
Yes, we are talking about these three opening batters who missed out the ODI World Cup 2023.
Three Best Openers Who Missed Out ODI World Cup 2023
There are three openers whose presence is clearly felt:
- Shikhar Dhawan
- Jason Roy
- Tamim Iqbal
Shikhar Dhawan:
Once the skipper of India’s ODI team, Dhawan was BCCI’s second choice after Virat Kohli to lead the side.
- During COVID times, BCCI had two separate teams. While one of the teams played Test cricket in England under Virat Kohli, one separate team under Dhawan played cricket in Sri Lanka.
- Even as late as October 2022, India’s second-string side was led by Dhawan.
- Forget his captaincy; look at the way he batted in ICC events. In those multi-national events, Dhawan was at his very best, accounting for 537 runs in 10 matches, with three hundred to his name.
- It’s a shame that he was ignored since his age was catching up and the management had to give chances to the young openers like Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Tamim Iqbal
One of the senior-most cricketers in Bangladesh, he was dropped from the ODI World Cup 2023 after a lot of dilly-dallying.
- Iqbal retired from international cricket in July after he was asked by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself to come out of retirement and play for the team in the World Cup.
- After this, Iqbal agreed to the proposal but kept saying that he was not sure about his fitness.
- For example, he said that his backache might recur in the future and that he would have to pick and choose among which games to play in the ODI World Cup.
- The management was not happy and didn’t think twice before dropping him.
- Iqbal, who had more than 8,000 ODI runs, could have had a swansong at the World Cup, but it wasn’t to be.
Jason Roy:
Even an ODI specialist like Jason Roy couldn’t seal his place thanks to an injury.
- Roy, who had slammed 473 runs in the 2019 ODI World Cup as England went on to win the tournament, could have been the key on Indian pitches, where he could have surely enjoyed playing.
- With his absence, the management now has to shift someone like Dawid Malan to the top of the order, which means there is a void in the middle order.
- Malan and Roy are two different batters and have completely contrasting personalities. We all know who could have benefited England more.
Final Thoughts
The ODI World Cup 2023 will see a plethora of stars; however, that doesn’t include these three stars.
All of them could have been great additions to the fans, who could have been dazzled with their outstanding batting.
This trio has contrasting personalities but could have brought the same joy with their skills.
