World Cup: Studded with all-rounders which team has an edge...?

New Delhi: The much awaited World Cup 2015 is just around the corner and almost all the participating teams have come with their best possible winning combinations.But the most important part of the selection is the choosing the best combination of the all-rounders who can support with both bat and ball when needed.They are the ones who can take the game away from the opposition either with their bowling or batting.Currently Shakib-al-Hasan of Bangladesh is ranked as the World's best all-rounder in ODIs as well as test cricket but what about the heavyweight of the World Cup?From Australia at top to West Indies at bottom, every heavyweight nation had a set of their best all-rounders but are they performing well enough to be called as an all-rounder.India TV checks out these all-roundersAUSTRALIAThe no. 1 ranked ODI side Australia is marching into the World Cup 2015 with four and probably the most explosive set of all-rounders namely Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell in their 15-man squad.Out of these four Faulkner and Watson are currently ranked at no. 8 and 9 in the ICC all-rounder rankings, while their performances in the past one year have been below par not just with the bat but with the ball as well. The Watson-Faulkner duo has the individual figures of 165 runs with 1 wicket and 40 runs with 3 wickets respectively against South Africa prior to the ODI Tri Series.The combined figure of all four all-rounders during home series against South Africa is 497 runs with 9 wickets.Glenn Maxwell has been the pick of the all-rounders from the Aussies with the best figures of 380 runs and 16 wickets in past one year which is much better than that of the rest but he failed badly against South Africa.Steven Smith had a decent run with 254 runs against South Africa adding to his total 541 runs in the year.Certainly these figures would not please them when they start their WC campaign against England on February 14.Note: This does not include the Carlton Mid ODI triangular series.INDIADefending champions India too have a well set of all-rounders with Ravindra Jadeja and Stuart Binny powering the lower order batting while Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel with Jadeja as well, will be useful on the spin friendly tracks. But the absence of experienced Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh on such fast tracks is definitely a setback.Ravindra Jadeja is World's fifth and India's best all-rounder included in the squad subject to his fitness. He makes a good pair with Ravichandran Ashwin with both bat and ball.The experienced duo of Jadeja-Ashwin shared 14 and 7 wickets together in England and Sri Lanka respectively but failed with the bat.Axar's 11 wickets against Sri Lanka at an economy of 4.61 in the home series helped him to get selected in the 15-man squad while Stuart Binny is in as an option of a fast bowler all-rounder despite not giving a single match winning performance after Bangladesh tour.Note: This does not include the Carlton Mid ODI triangular series.ENGLANDMoeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Ravi Bopara and James Tredwell are the four all-rounders present in the English squad for the World Cup 2015 but they are seen struggling in the limited over format.Moeen Ali and Ravi Bopara were outstanding with the bat in 2014 with 421 (avg 35.08) and 422 (avg 26.37) runs respectively while James Tredwell scalped 23 wickets in 20 matches at an economy of 4.53.Ali (236) and Bopara (185) together could score just 421 runs in a recent 7-match ODI series in Sri Lanka which the visitors lost 2-5. The duo also shared 10 wickets with James Tredwell who managed to get 4 wickets at an economy of 4.76 after his failure with the bat.Stuart Broad on the other hand has not played any ODI since West Indies tour in March 2014 where he bagged just 3 wickets and scored 28 runs in three matches.Note: This does not include the Carlton Mid ODI triangular series.WEST INDIESWest Indies selectors probably made the most shocking decision to drop their match winning all-rounders Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo from the squad but they still have Chris Gayle and Darren Sammy who together can bat to turn the game around and bowl to support the frontline bowlers in the middle overs. They also have Sulieman Benn, a 6'7” tall spinner present as an all-rounder.All of the three are not among the runs and wickets. Chris Gayle alarmed all the bowlers with his burst against South Africa in the T20 series but he has been mostly out of the national ODI side in recent times. He last played against Bangladesh at home where he could score just 67 runs and a wicket in 3 matches.Darren Sammy has not been able to perform with both bat and ball having scored just 27 runs against India in 2014 with two wickets at an economy of 4.11.Left with Sulieman Benn, he too had a poor run in 2014 and managed to get just 2 wickets in Indian tour.Note: This does not include the ODI series vs South Africa.PAKISTANPakistan just have Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez as the two traditional all-rounders in their side. However Hafeez is doubtful to bowl in the World Cup as his bowling action is not yet cleared by the ICC, but he still can bat through out the tournament.Hafeez scored 360 runs in 12 matches with a strike rate of 79.29 managed to justify the tag of Pakistan's best and World's no. 2 all-rounder with the bat here but because of a ban in bowling he could bowl almost for half a year.His recent performance against New Zealand was not satisfactory as he managed to score just 118 runs in 4 ODIs.Afridi on the other hand, is ranked 5th in ICC ODI all-rounder list has always been known to the magic with bat and ball both. Presence of Shahid as an all-round gives an edge to Pakistan's playing IX on the field. Afridi scored 354 runs in 16 matches with a strike rate of 148.73 and has grabbed 16 wickets in 16 matches with best figures of 3/37.Afridi has the neck of taking the game away from the opposition and one most not forget the Asia Cup game against India in 2014 when he sealed the match with a six in a historic win against their arch rivals. SRI LANKAThe island nation of Sri Lanka has Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sachithra Senanayake in their list of all-rounders.Among all, the veteran Tillakaratne Dilshan is the 4th best all-rounder in the world and has been performing consistently in past one year. He scored 357 runs with the strike rate of 84.79 and also had a staggering average of 51 against England in December 2014. He was also the second highest wicket taker in the series with 12 wickets at an economy of 5.10.He also enjoyed 2014 with 990 runs in 25 matches at an average of 41.25 but despite being an opener he managed to score just one century. Now that is not what you expect from a player like Dilshan.Skipper Angelo Mathews is ranked 3rd in the world, and closely follows Dilshan in the squad as a best all-rounder. He might have performed below par against England with just 182 runs and three wickets in his pocket but the previous year had been fruitful to him. He was the first batsman to reach 1000 runs mark in 2014 and also has 18 wickets in 32 matches.Thisara Perera strengthens the dominance of Sri Lankan all-rounders in the World Cup with over 390 runs and 24 wickets in same no. of matches.Left with Jeevan Mendis and Sachithra Senanayake, the duo were a big flop against England having shared just 6 wickets together in 7 matches but Senanayake after returning from his suspension had a wonderful year bagging 27 wickets in 18 matches at an economy of 4.38.Clearly, Sri Lanka has the best set of all-rounders with all the necessary ingredients one need.Note: This does not include the ODI series vs New Zealand.SOUTH AFRICAJP Duminy is amongst the main stream all-rounders of the squad but his recent performance has not been up-to the mark neither with the bat or the ball and had a woeful year. He managed to score just 77 runs and took 2 wickets in 3 ODIs against New Zealand.On the other hand Faf du Plessis who amassed 790 runs in 15 matches in 2014 at a staggering strike rate of 88.56 and averages 52.66, failed to play the role of a bowler on field.Vernon Philander too struggled on the field having managed to bag just 13 wickets in 8 ODIs he played in 2014.Note: This does not include the ODI series vs West Indies.NEW ZEALANDThe Kiwis are back with their veteran all-rounder Daniel Vettori who made his comeback against South Africa at home after staying away from cricket for about 15 months.Having lost all his colors which he used to have in the past, he didn't even managed to get a single wicket in two ODIs and scored just one run.Corey Anderson on the other side after scoring a record breaking 36 ball century is proving to be a better all-rounder with 350 runs and in 12 matches with a strike rate of 177.66 and an average of 43.75. He also scalped 17 wickets but at the costly economy rate of 6.67.Anderson has the ability to hit the ball hard and knows how to bat under pressure situations but he failed against South Africa in the home series.Note: This does not include the ODI series vs Sri Lanka.