India: A+
Top of the class, by a country mile. What millions of fans want to know now is whether they can ace the final exam. They were asked difficult questions at times in the league phase, most notably by Australia in their opening game when they slipped to 2-3 in the pursuit of a modest total. But each subsequent mini-crisis saw a player or three step up and do the needful. Five of the batters have over 250 runs, and each of the five frontline bowlers has at least 12 wickets. Which other team could afford to bench R Ashwin on Indian pitches?
South Africa: A
They crumbled under pressure when chasing a big Indian total and were dreadful in the loss to the Netherlands. Batting first, however, few teams looked as frightening. It’s a big if, but if tosses go in their favour in the knockout phase, then that long and painful wait for ODI cricket’s Holy Grail might finally end. Like India, five batters with over 250 runs, and each main bowler with 10 or more wickets.
Australia: A
After two straight losses, the most successful side in World Cup history were in danger of flunking out. Since then, the form guide has them as the only team to keep pace with India. David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell have been sensational with the bat, while Adam Zampa has gone to the top of the wicket-taking chart after a cold start. Josh Hazlewood has been superb, but the other pacers have been patchy. Pat Cummins has, however, led from the front, showing great composure in the field and much fortitude with the bat, especially against Afghanistan.
New Zealand: B
Started the tournament like a runaway train, before four straight losses threatened to derail them. A straightforward thumping of Sri Lanka ensured a fifth straight semi-final, and millions of Indian fans will be exceedingly nervous as they recall what happened at Old Trafford in 2019. Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell have starred with the bat, while Mitchell Santner and Lockie Ferguson, when fit, have been the standouts with the ball. Their bowling unit looks the weakest of those in the top four, so this could well be another case of so near and yet so far.
Pakistan: C-
In between pulling off the biggest run chase in World Cup history against Sri Lanka and Fakhar Zaman playing a blinder against New Zealand, Pakistan often looked clueless and bereft of hope. Their batting tempo until Fakhar was recalled was often pedestrian, while neither Shaheen Shah Afridi nor Haris Rauf lived up to the hype. As they reflect on a fifth failed campaign this century, the powers that be need to ask how a country that produced the great Abdul Qadir had the worst spinners in this competition.
Afghanistan: B+
They would have got an A but for losing to Bangladesh. Given how poor Bangladesh’s campaign turned out to be, it’s not a stretch to think how far Afghanistan could have gone had they not missed out on that free hit in their first game. As it turned out, they comfortably beat three former world champions — England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — and only a genius knock from Maxwell prevented the rug being pulled from under the Australian feet. Lacked a genuine pace threat with the new ball, and the spinners too disappointed in crunch moments.
England: D
Came to India hyped to the skies, and with talk of attacking the title rather than defending it. But for most of the tournament after an opening-day shellacking from New Zealand, they offered all the threat of a custard cream. The batting was a pale imitation of the 2019 vintage, and while David Willey and Chris Woakes shone in patches, there was little support for the excellent Adil Rashid on a consistent basis. Roused themselves to clinch Champions Trophy qualification, with Ben Stokes leading the way.
Bangladesh: D
Only Mahmudullah averaged over 33 with the bat, and the bowling was largely as threatening as a powder puff. They came into the tournament after the controversial axing of Tamim Iqbal, and never seemed fully switched on. Given how good they’d been on home turf between World Cups, this was a tournament of shocking underachievement. That the biggest headline they got was for Shakib Al Hasan’s decision to appeal for a timed-out dismissal against Angelo Mathews said it all really.
Sri Lanka: D
Lost key players to injury before and during the tournament, and the fitness levels of those that did make it on to the park often left a lot to be desired. There was some high-quality batting in the first few games, but even that tailed off. Their cricket administration has been a chaotic and corrupt mess for decades, and the bitter fruits of that are being tasted now. If they’re not careful, they could slide into irrelevance like some other former World Cup winners have.
Netherlands: B
Ran out of steam in the final fortnight, but this tight group of players will always have those convincing victories over South Africa and Bangladesh to look back on. Bas de Leede finished with 16 wickets, while Roelof van der Merwe left the big stage with the prize scalp of Virat Kohli. Except for the match against Australia, they never looked like imposters, and they could well have caused another upset or two if the top-order batting wasn’t such a shambles.