T20 is a gruelling format where an over or even a single ball can make you a hero or turn you into a villain. And when you take into consideration an entire tournament of unsatisfactory performances, there will be quite a few fingers being pointed at you for underperforming at the grandest stage of them all, the World T20.

It is almost criminal that the Indian openers playing on Indian pitches with the home crowd cheering for them failed to exhibit even one good opening partnership throughout the World Cup. India had the least runs scored in the first six overs of the innings among all teams during the group stages with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma holding an average of10.75 and 17.60 runs per innings respectively, which is way below par than what was expected of them.

The Aussie star was expected to launch Australia into the later stages of the World T20 but instead he managed to score just 38 runs in his four group stage matches at an average of 9.50. The Australian failed to adapt to the Indian conditions and did not get a double digit score in three out of the four innings he played.

Lahiru Thirimanne

Suresh Raina

Although Suresh Raina picked up three wickets, his primary role in the team was that of a batsman. With 41 runs in the tournament, it is clear that Suresh Raina failed miserably and had it not been for Kohli’s heroics, his failures in the middle order could have easily cost India the match on more than one occasion.

With two runs needed off the last three balls, you would bet your house on the fact that the batting team would win the match. But Cricket has its own set of twists and turns and Bangladesh learned it the hard way. A full-toss on the fourth ball of the over was hit up in the air when the most sensible thing Mushfiqur Rahim could have done was place it in the huge gaps in the outfield and won his team the match. Not only did he cost the team the match but his overall performance throughout the World Cup, including the qualifiers, was abysmal to say the least.

Darren Sammy

Nathan Coulter-Nile

The Aussie pacer was supposed to lead the bowling attack for his side but with just one wicket and an average of 132.00 he was a massive disappointment at the World Cup. Add to that, he was the most expensive Australian bowler, conceding at over 8.2 runs per over. Surely the Aussies expected much better from the T20 specialist.

Ravichandran Ashwin

Although Ashwin bowled well against Bangladesh, his performance in the semi-final and also in the opening match against New Zealand was well below par. Co-incidentally his two worst performances came when India needed him the most. When you have two overs left but the captain gives the ball to a part-timer like Virat Kohli, who had not bowled in T20s since October 2013, you know you have failed on the night.

This is possibly a controversial pick as Mohammad Amir did not particularly bowl badly in the World T20. But the expectations from him were so high after his incredible performance in the Asia Cup, that an output of just 3 wickets at an economy of 7.86 just was not good enough by his own standards. Amir’s high-profile reputation goes against him in this selection but when you are as good as Amir, the world expects you to show up every single match.

Dale Steyn