Image Credit- ICC
A legend of the World Cup is Trent Boult. He has
played a major role in helping New Zealand reach consecutive finals, and he is
about to become the newest member of the 50-World-Cup-wicket club, along with
Glenn McGrath, Mitchell Starc, Lasith Malinga, and Wasim Akram.
Though he isn’t having a terrific World Cup, Trent
Boult is a tremendous World Cup player. He took 39 wickets in 19 games at an
average of 21.79 and an economy rate of 4.61 during the tournaments in 2015 and
2019. The matching figures for 2023 are as follows: 10 wickets at 38.10 and
5.36 in eight games.
These numbers can be interpreted in a variety of ways.
Certainly one is to relate them to the overall course of Boult’s career. Did he
really go freelance? Having played in just 11 of the last 30 One-Day
Internationals (ODIs) prior to this World Cup and three of the last 14 ODIs in
Asia, he clearly picked and chose when to play for New Zealand.
You can wonder if he was fully ready when he arrived
in India to compete in this World Cup.
When you look closely at his figures, the situation
becomes more concerning. Boult performs at his best in the opening ten overs.
Boult has taken 22 first-powerplay wickets in World Cups since 2015; however,
in just eight games, 2023 has only brought him three first-powerplay wickets at
an economy rate of 5.39 and an average of 59.33. It’s not like he’s been
especially unfortunate either, since his lower returns during this era add up
to better control numbers for hitters that face him.
This has been a weird World Cup for new-ball bowlers,
who have looked unplayable at some venues, particularly under lights, and taken
a pounding at others. Boult and New Zealand have been unfortunate that their
games have largely come at venues that haven’t been conducive to new-ball
movement.
Despite everything, there have been moments during
this World Cup where Boult has not looked his best, regardless of the
circumstances. His time bowling with the new ball at the Chinnaswamy Stadium,
where New Zealand defended 401 against Pakistan, was most memorable. On that
day, with that surface, and against Fakhar Zaman in that kind of attitude,
anyone might have gone for plenty.
Even though Boult finished the day at zero for fifty
from six overs, he must have been furious with himself for allowing his
procedures to go wrong. When bowlers aim to bowl attacking lengths, like Boult
did that day, they have limited tolerance for mistake; yet, bowlers with his
calibre and experience rarely miss that much and that often, with their
execution.
They’ll be back at the unforgiving Chinnaswamy, but
this time they’ll be able to call on something close to their first-choice
bowling attack. Boult is the leader of that attack, in good times and bad, and
he’ll want to do everything in his power to ensure that this won’t be his final
World Cup game.