Yuzvendra Chahal:
The wrist-spinner had a good start to his first World Cup campaign with a four-for against South Africa. However, the subsequent matches weren’t as great as he ended up with 12 scalps from eight matches at an economy rate of 5.97.
That figure however was more because of the hammering he got against England at Edgbaston. Yet, Chahal was the most successful spinner in this World Cup which was dominated by the seamers (pacers took 492 wickets in this WC as against the spinners’ 136).
Rashid Khan:
Rashid was also playing in his first World Cup and it was thought that the Afghan leggie will spin a sensation. Experts felt he didn’t look as lethal as he does in the T20Is where the batsmen are in the mindset of taking more chances against him.
The 20-year-old took only seven wickets in nine matches and conceded 416 runs. He didn’t bowl against New Zealand after getting hit on the head by a fast ball while against England, he had gone for 110 runs in nine overs without any reward.
Imran Tahir:
The veteran leg-spinner played in his final World Cup and did his bit. But he didn’t have the support he needed from his fellow bowlers. Tahir took 11 wickets from nine matches at an average of below five. But SA’s overall batting failure hadn’t leave much for him to do. Tahir was the second highest wicket-taker for SA after Chris Morris who took 13.
Adam Zampa:
The young Australian got to play only four games in this World Cup and claimed five scalps in all. Since the Aussies were highly dependent on their pace attack, Zampa didn’t get to play much. Nathan Lyon, the other spinner in their ranks also got to play just four games and picked three wickets.
Kuldeep Yadav:
A big disappointment of the World Cup. The Chinaman bowler did not have the touch in the Indian Premier League preceding the World Cup either and he ended up with only six wickets from seven games at an average of over 56.
His highest point in the tournament was castling Babar Azam with a beauty at Old Trafford on June 16 but that apart, it was almost a forgettable WC for the young spinner.